My Little Wild Thing
by ElphieThroppDG28
Summary: Max and his older sister, Bella, become very close after their parents divorce. But as time goes by, Max becomes prone to wildness as Bella tries unsuccessfully to hide from a world that's spinning out of control. Where The Wild Things Are movieverse. LIMBO.
1. Intro

**INTRO**

Hola! Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. But, luckily for me, the poll on my profile page was a success (sorta). And after two votes saying yes, I have decided to post a fanfic for Where The Wild Things Are.

I thought that maybe it'd be interesting if Max had an older sister and see what her part in the story would be. But then I found out that he already _has _one in the movie. So after a few days of thinking I'd have to scrap this, I finally decided to work around it. So now he has two older sisters.

His other sister (my OC) is named Bella (the name inspired after my amazing friend Isabella from a camp I attended last summer, not Bella from the _Twilight _series), and the story is pretty much the ups and downs of their life from the time Max is born to sometime after the movie ends (plus his already existing sister is older in this story).

Most of this will be told from Bella's POV, but a few chapters will be from Max's, and maybe one or two will be when he's on the island with the Wild Things. Trust me...this story is more along the lines of family relationships, and please know that the story probably won't have a lot of action (i.e. it doesn't get more exciting than family fights and Max biting people), so please BE NICE. This is a first for me, and like I've said in some of my other stories, please no flames or bashing. Constructive criticism is encouraged. And in the event that this story totally sucks and no one likes it, I will remove it. No questions asked.

Yes, parts of the movie will be in this story. But there are parts before, during, and after that I added in (hence being original).

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. All rights belong to Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers and all those other cool dudes who made this awesome story into what it is today.

So…what are you waiting for? Read on and enjoy!


	2. Prologue: Lucky?

Prologue: Lucky?

When her mother and father told her she was going to be a big sister, the excitement that welled up in young Isabella Carson was almost overwhelming. Being six at the time, she thought it was going to be the best thing ever.

Until it actually happened.

...

It was only a few weeks after she'd received the news that her excitement level began to decrease. All anyone wanted to talk about was the baby, or something related to the baby. Her mom and dad were both busy with work and preparations for the baby. Even her older sister, Claire, seemed mildly enthused.

And she made sure that if anyone talked about her new sibling – which was often – that she was in her room or in her tree house, where she wouldn't have to hear anything.

It wasn't fun at all.

Claire, her only companion, wasn't bothered in the least. "I had to go through it when you were born," she said. "It only gets worse from here, so get used to it."

To make things worse, her parents came home one day with the exceptional news that the baby was a boy. Automatically, Bella knew that she and the baby weren't going to get along with each other. Her best friend Tori had two little brothers, and she got along with them as well as a flea gets along with an itchy dog.

So for the next nine months, she anxiously awaited her baby brother's arrival.

...

She was exactly seven years, three days and eleven hours old when Max finally came into her life.

She always remembered exactly because her mother wouldn't let her soon forget it. She claimed that their birthdays were "lucky" – Bella was born on October _13__th_, then _three_ days later, Max was born on the _16__th_, and they would always be _seven _years apart.

Whatever having "lucky" birthdays meant, it didn't have any special meaning to Bella. If anything, having a little brother like Max was _un_lucky. Everyone thought he was so cute and perfect, and all during the get-togethers people had for his birth, Bella was off in the corner, sulking that she was getting no attention.

"You just gotta suck it up until it all blows over," Claire would tell her, "so get used to it."

Like Bella had predicted before he'd been born, Max was always getting in the way, and she seemed to get blamed for a lot more than she had before he came along. And though her mother would make her play with him on occasion, it wouldn't be long before the two of them would need to be separated.

Her mother claimed it was "just a phase" and that "you'll appreciate each other more when you're older, Isabella". Bella thought she knew enough about grownups to realize that her mother was just trying to appease her.

But as the next nine years of her life played out before her, she never would have guessed that she could actually get along well with her new little brother.


	3. 1: Complications

_Hola! Thanks to Pricat for reviewing! I'm really glad you liked it! _

_I don't know how often updates will be...it depends on homework and my after school stuff, but since I've already got a rough copy of the first few chapters done, the first couple of updates will be on pretty fast._

_Enjoy!_

...

**THREE YEARS LATER...**

...

Chapter One: Complications

"Guys, don't fight. It's a tricycle built for two. Or…one built for two-and-a-half…"

Two men on an Aqua Bike struggled to keep their balance, and then promptly flipped it over, tumbling into the water. Bella couldn't help but letting out a shriek of her obnoxiously loud laugh.

"Bella! Could you please keep it down? Your brother's trying to sleep!"

"Okay, Mom," Bella called back, turning back to the TV.

"…by watching something frivolous, like people spinning to classical music! Yeah…that'll be good…"

Once again, Bella couldn't stop herself from laughing uncontrollably at the home videos of different people and animals spinning in circles, all set to a classical tune. America's Funniest Home Videos never failed to entertain her.

A chubby little boy toddled out and stood with his hands on his hips. "Hey!" he said. "Mommy said stop it! I'm twying to sweep!"

"I'm not even being that loud, Max. Stop being such a baby and go back to bed."

"I can't!" He stood right in front of the TV. "Yo not being vewy nice! I'm telling Mommy, and she gonna put you in time-out!"

Bella rolled her eyes. At three years old, her little brother didn't grasp the concept that she was too old for "time-out".

"Max, move. I'm trying to watch."

"No!" He folded his tiny arms in defiance.

"Max," Bella said, getting angry. "Move your fat butt outta here!"

"Mommy!" Max called, tears forming in his little brown eyes. "Belly called me fat!"

"He's not moving! He's blocking the TV! He's being annoying, like he always is!"

Their mother, Connie, came down the hallway, a frown crossing her face. "Bella, that's no way to talk to your brother." She picked him up and continued to glare at her daughter.

"He was blocking the TV again—" Bella started.

"He's just a baby! He doesn't know any better! And he needs his sleep. Now turn off the TV and go to bed. I'll be there to tuck you in in a few minutes."

Bella pounded her thumb on the power button as she watched the TV flicker off. She stormed up the stairs and down the hallway and got ready for bed, angry thoughts running across her mind.

_Stupid Max…why did Mom and Dad have to have him in the first place? He's not that great…he's just an annoying little nuisance!_

After brushing her teeth and putting on her pajamas, she got into bed and pulled the covers over her head. A few minutes later, she heard Connie come through the door.

"Bella?"

Bella didn't move.

"Bella…"

She stayed perfectly still, saying nothing.

"Isabella Kaye," came her mother's stern tone.

"What?" Bella asked. She knew that if Connie was using her full first name _and_ middle name, she meant business.

She felt the covers be removed from her head. She looked up and saw Connie.

"Bella…I'm sorry."

"Whatever. Just…leave me alone." Bella rolled over. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Connie sighed. "I know it's hard, with Daddy being away…"

Bella wished she would just leave. She hated it when her mother brought up her father.

"But he and I are…going through a tough time at the moment. And I know how hard it is for you kids to live here without him."

_Just stop talking about it…please…_

"I hear you guys on the phone at night," Bella said quietly. "You keep telling me that you're working things out, but it sounds like you're just yelling at each other and not fixing anything. And Claire says that you're gonna get a…D-Force…" She tried to work her way around the strange, new word.

Connie was silent before she kissed Bella on the forehead. "It's a _divorce_, honey, and Claire shouldn't say things like that. I'll have a talk with her about it. I promise you, Bella, things will turn out in the end," she said. "Even if it doesn't seem like it now…it will soon." She turned out the light and shut the door.

Bella rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Being practically ten-and-three-quarters, she was smart enough to know that grownups always said things would "turn out in the end" just to calm down their kids.

But Bella knew better.

She'd heard her parents on the phone.

And she knew where this would end.


	4. 2: Making Adjustments

_Thanks again to Pricat for reviewing!_

_Any real-world franchises I may use (like AFV)...I obviously don't own them. Trust me...if I did, I wouldn't be on this site...jk, jk..._

_Enjoy!_

Chapter Two: Making Adjustments

The next morning, Bella sat at the breakfast table, exhausted from tossing and turning half the night. Claire was looking at a gossip magazine while she munched on some toast, and Max sat in a booster seat, eagerly banging his spoon on the wood of the table.

"Maxie want seal-ial!" he chanted. "Maxie want seal-ial!"

Bella glared at him, but said nothing.

"Heard you got in trouble last night, Iz," Claire commented, using a nickname Bella did not particularly like.

"None of your beeswax, Claire," Bella grumbled.

"Well, I'll have you know that I, unlike you, went straight to bed when I was told last night. In fact, Mom says I get to stay up a half-hour later now that I'm older." Claire smiled to herself in satisfaction.

"Wow, a whole half-hour," Bella said sarcastically. "Quick, someone call the newspaper! We wouldn't want the whole world to live without the knowledge that Claire Carson gets to go to bed later than usual!" She could never resist the urge to talk back to her older sister.

"You're just jealous," Claire said. "Mom says I have responsibility, as oppose to you."

"I'm responsible…" Bella defended weakly.

"Let's think…I'm a whole two years older than you. That means I have two years of experience over your head, Iz. Let's face it: I'm much more responsible."

Bella hated it when her sister got technical with her. She used to be fun, always willing to play Barbie dolls or house whenever Bella asked. But ever since Claire had started middle school, she had become a snob and decided that she was too good for her younger sister (she would be willing to play with Max for a certain amount of time each day, but Bella knew that when Max got older, Claire would ignore him, as well).

"Good morning, sunshine," Connie said to Bella. "I made you your favorite: chocolate-chip pancakes and bacon." The plate of steaming food was set in front of her.

"Nepotism…" Claire sang in Bella's ear.

"Claire…" Connie warned. "Bella had a hard time sleeping. She needs her energy today."

Max eyed Bella's plate hungrily. "Maxie want what Belly's having!" he declared.

"Sweetheart, you can't have pancakes. You get mashed bananas."

"Maxie tiwed of bo-nan-as! Maxie want pamcwakes!"

"When you're older, honey," Connie said tiredly, giving Max a bowlful of mashed-up bananas.

"Maxie no want bo-nan-as!" Max shrieked, banging the bowl on the table. "Maxie want pamcwakes!"

"Max, please," Connie said, tying his bib on. "Eat your breakfast."

"NO! MAXIE WANT PAMCWAKES!" Max threw the bowl across the table, where it landed on Bella's head.

Max started laughing. "Belly has a new hat!"

"Banana yellow isn't really your color, Iz," Claire said, stifling a giggle.

"Max!" Connie scolded. "That's a no-no! We do not throw our breakfast, Max!"

Bella fought to keep her anger inside, but found that it was near impossible. "Max, what the heck?! You always have to make things harder, don't you?"

"Bella, it was an accident," Connie said, wiping the bananas off her daughter's face with paper towels.

"Everything with him is an accident," Bella growled. "No, let me take that back. He _is _an accident!"

"Isabella!" Connie said. "Don't say that."

"Mommy," Max asked, "whas a axweeden?"

"It means that you didn't mean for something to happen, but it did," Claire said, her eyes on her magazine.

"Thank you, Claire," Connie said, rolling her eyes. "Bella, say you're sorry to your brother."

Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing. She hadn't done anything. Connie had it the wrong way around. _Max_ should apologize to _her_.

"No."

"Bella…please tell him you're sorry."

She wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"Isn't it pointless?"

"And why would it be pointless?"

"Because I'm not sorry I did it!" Bella exclaimed. "I honestly meant what I said." She wouldn't give up without a fight. It was Max's fault this time. Anyone could see that.

Anyone, apparently, except her mother.

"Okay, that's it. If you're going to act like a two-year-old, I'm going to treat you like one." Connie pointed upstairs. "Go get in the bathtub and wash the bananas out of your hair, and after that, go to your room and don't come out for the rest of the day."

Bella got up and pushed her chair in, hoping to make a dent in the side of the table. She walked out of the room.

"See ya, Iz," Claire called after her.

"Bye, Belly!" Max said cheerfully.

Bella almost turned around and threw the mush from her hair at them, but Connie followed her, and wouldn't stand for any more brawling.

After finally getting all the bananas out of her hair, Bella changed into her day clothes and sat on the floor, sticking her lower lip out.

"Are you satisfied now?" she asked Connie.

"Satisfied with what?"

"Ruining my life."

Connie sighed and sat next to her. "Bella, this can't go on. This constant talking back…and fighting with your brother and sister…you need to control yourself."

"At least I'm being civil. It's not like I'm running around like a crazed maniac."

"You know what I mean," Connie said. "You need to start shaping up. I'm honestly worried about you. You're going to have a hard time in life if you keep this up."

"Dad said it was good that I stand up for myself," Bella said, looking at her mother out of the corner of her eye.

"Not when it comes to your elders, sweetie. You need to respect them."

"Even if they're wrong?"

"Even if they're wrong." Connie stood up. "I'm going to leave you alone to think about what you did." She walked out of the room, and Bella heard her footsteps on the stairs.

Bella had no intention of "thinking about what she did". She was older now; her mother couldn't keep her in her room all day.

In about an hour, she'd be out of here.


	5. 3: Ship of Dreams

_Hey! This chapter's kind of a filler...Idk, I just thought it'd be interesting. Oh, and if you haven't noticed, a lot of this is a bit angsty. Sorry if it is. And if this one totally sucks, please let me know and I can avoid making future chapters like this one. _

_Oh, and I don't own the following movie. Trust me...if I did, I'd be a gazillionaire right now...lol. And sorry if this is super long..._

...

Chapter Three: Ship of Dreams

Wait.

Watch.

Hope.

Nothing.

Repeat.

Bella laid her head against her doorway, wishing her mother would come by to tell her that she could come out. She had been in her room all day. She was too old for this kind of punishment.

"Can I come out now?" she'd ask, feeling like a toddler.

"You know the rules, Bella," her mother would call.

Hours passed, and she was fidgety. "_Please_ can I come out?"

"No, Bella."

More time went by. "_Now _can I come out?"

Her mother didn't answer. She was most likely tuning her out.

"This isn't fair!" Bella slammed her fists on her bedroom floor. Giving up her watch post, she sprawled out on the floor and began to sob.

"Belly?" Max appeared suddenly. "Why awe you on the flow like that? Are you twying to be a angel?"

Bella turned to face him, her eyes burning with hate. "Max, get out."

"Maxie want to play, too!" He lay on the floor and spread his arms and legs wide. "Look, Belly! Maxie a angel, too!"

"Go away, Max!" She shut the door. A few seconds later, he knocked.

"Maxie want to come in!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Bella screamed at the top of her lungs.

She heard Connie's footsteps outside. "Max," came the sound of her muffled voice. "Leave your sister alone. She's not in a good mood right now."

"I heard that!" Bella called.

Connie opened the door. "Bella, please. He didn't know any better."

"Well, let me know when he starts to know better. Cause when he does, then he can actually get in trouble."

"If you keep talking like that, you'll stay in here longer," Connie warned as she closed the door and walked away.

Bella got up off the floor and crawled onto her bed. She laid face down and cried some more, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

...

It wasn't until close to nine at night that Bella woke up. She looked around and saw that it was dark. Still a bit sleepy, she dug out her pajamas and put them on. She was about to go brush her teeth when she remembered that she wasn't allowed to leave.

_Maybe I should just do it. It's just brushing my teeth. Mom'll be happy that I'm concerned with keeping my mouth healthy. Besides, it'll be nice to get out of here…_

She sighed. Her face still felt stiff from crying, which reminded her of what had happened earlier. She didn't want Connie to have another reason to be angry with her. It would just mean more time in her room.

_I'll just ask. Mom will appreciate that…I think, _she thought as she snuck downstairs.

She was shocked by what she saw.

Displayed on the TV was a young red-haired woman with a fancy dress on. She was hanging off the edge of a boat, positioning herself to jump. She was really high up, it looked…

"Mom! What are you watching?" Bella exclaimed, terrified.

Her mother hit the pause button on the remote and turned around. "Bella, what are you doing out of your room?"

Bella suddenly remembered. "I wanted to know if I could go brush my teeth."

Connie gave her a look. "Was that just an excuse to come out?"

"No," Bella said, knowing that her mother's accusation was half-true. "I honestly wondered if it would be okay."

"Of course it is. Mundane things like that are always okay. But as soon as you're done, it's back to your room," Connie said.

"Alright, Mom," Bella said as she walked back up the stairs.

As she brushed her teeth, Bella couldn't shake the terrible image she'd seen. _What was that lady thinking? She's going to die if she jumps off that boat! Why would Mom be slightly interested in something like that?_

She was about to go back in her room when she stopped. Maybe she could sneak back down and watch a few more minutes of the movie. It wouldn't hurt…how long could it be, anyway?

...

"Belly?"

Bella turned to see Max standing on the stairs next to her. "Shhh!" she hissed. "Not now, Max! Go back to bed!"

"Is Belly hiding from Mommy?" Max asked loudly.

"Max! Keep it down!" she whispered.

"Mommy! Look! Belly's on the staywas!"

Bella groaned as her mother turned to look.

"Isabella Kaye! What do you think you're doing?"

Bella froze on the steps, where she had been sitting for a while. "I'm…um…" she stammered. She couldn't cover up for this one.

"Go to your room right now! This movie is not appropriate for you!"

_How so? _she wanted to ask. All that had happened while she had been watching was a spitting contest, a boring formal dinner, and a wild party. At most, the movie looked like it was PG.

"As for you, Max," Connie said, taking on a gentler tone. "You need to go to sleep."

"But Maxie want to see, too! Maxie wants Barney!"

"In the morning, Max," Connie said, picking him up and carrying him back to his room.

Bella slowly made her way back up the stairs after them, somewhat annoyed that she'd been busted. The movie was actually really interesting; she didn't know its name, but she was sure it was based on something that had happened a long time ago.

She lay in bed for a while, waiting for the perfect moment when her mom would pause the movie – and Max was asleep – so she could sneak back down to watch more.

...

"Mother, don't you get it?" Rose, the red-haired lady, said to an older woman that looked like her. "There aren't enough boats. Half of the people on this ship are going to die!"

"Not the better half…" a smooth looking man beside her mumbled.

Bella gripped the railing. Things were starting to look bad for the people in the movie. Now that the ship was sinking and there weren't enough lifeboats, she was almost compelled to go back to her room. But something kept her there on the steps…

...

After Jack froze to death, she decided enough was enough. She once again trudged up the stairs, very upset indeed.

A while later, Connie was in her room, tucking her in.

"Mom? What was that movie you were watching?"

"You mean _we_?"

Bella didn't meet her mother's gaze. "How'd you know?"

"You should've been more quiet coming down the stairs the third time," she answered, smiling. "And, to answer your first question, _Titanic_. It's based on a true story about a ship that hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage."

Bella vaguely recalled learning about the ship in the first grade. She had thought it was a bit depressing, but now that she'd seen all those people fall off the ship or catch pneumonia…it was almost more than she could take.

"All those people died?"

"Not the actors in the movie, but yes, a lot of innocent people died on that ship. It was a very sad thing to happen."

Bella was now a bit worried. What if she went on a boat as big as the _Titanic_? What if it hit an iceberg and there weren't enough lifeboats? Would she die going down with the ship? Or freeze to death in the water?

"Bella, it happened a long time ago. They've made sure that something that tragic won't happen again," Connie explained, as if reading her thoughts. "Don't worry."

"Okay," she said, sounding unsure.

"Good night," Connie said, kissing Bella on the forehead. "If you need me during the night, my room's right down the hallway."

Bella nodded, knowing that by the end of the night, she probably wouldn't be in her own bed.


	6. 4: The Tree House

_Hey! Sorry it's been a while! This week's been kinda busy for me. And sorry if this is a bit choppy...it's a filler..._

...

Chapter Four: The Tree House

It dominated her thoughts for a whole week. Bell tried to think about other things, but she finally found that to be useless. Every time she thought of something, it always led back to that stupid movie.

Pancakes. Syrup. Drowning. Water. _Titanic_.

Max. Playing. Legos. Boat. _Titanic_.

Family. Forest. Lake. Swimming. _Titanic_.

She couldn't shake the spooky feeling she got every time she thought about it. She considered telling her mother, but was afraid Connie would say, "I told you that movie wasn't appropriate for you."

After a while, though, she began to find that she was growing fond of the film's music. She checked out the CD from the library and listened to it every afternoon. Her favorite song was the Love Theme, and she was thrilled to find that half of the songs contained the haunting, beautiful melody.

For the first time in a long time, Bella felt genuinely happy. Her family – save Max, who was too little to understand – was a little concerned with her drastic change in behavior, but she didn't pay them any mind. As long as she was in her own world, it seemed as if nothing horrible could ever happen.

...

One Monday morning later that summer, Bella walked downstairs to see that the living room had been emptied of all of its furniture. Connie then explained to her three children that some men were coming to clean the carpet today, and the furniture needed to be moved. This also meant that they needed to stay outside for a good portion of the day.

Bella sat on the front steps, wondering what to do, because there was no one to play with. She would have walked the four short blocks to be with her best friend, Tori, but she'd gone to Arizona for the summer. She wouldn't even bother with Claire; her older sister had already stated she was going out with her friends. She thought of Max, but then chastised herself for even considering him as an option.

She looked up at the old oak tree that dominated half of their front yard. Sitting in the crooks of some of the branches was the tree house her dad had built when she turned five. It was made of old wooden boards and even had a deck, and made a _creak-creak _sound when she walked on the floor. It'd been a few years since she'd been up there.

_Why not? I have nothing better to do…_

She climbed the rungs that were nailed into the tree, and stood on the deck, staring out over the housetops and into the distance. It was as if she were flying…

She smiled to herself. She knew exactly what she was doing today.

...

"Bella, why the heck are you up there?"

Bella opened her eyes and dropped her arms, annoyed that Claire had crashed her train of thought. "I'm trying to have fun."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Looked more like you were being weird, but, whatever. If Mom asks where I am, tell her I went off with Dana and I'll be home later."

"Don't you wanna stay here? We can play Ship. I can go get our dolls, and then we can save them from sharks and stuff."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Claire said, turning onto the sidewalk. "See ya, Iz."

Bella wondered what she'd been thinking, what had made her suggest playing with Claire. They both wanted their space, and it was a good thing not to get involved with that.

"I am Victoria Sanford," Bella said out loud to herself. "The richest lady on board the great _Titanic_. None shall tell me what to do. I make my own rules." She spread her arms wide, like an eagle, imagining the vast ocean beneath a gigantic ship hull. This must be what it was like for Rose and Jack—

"Belly?"

Bella looked down to see Max, toy truck in hand. Her mind went blank for the second time that day.

"What, Max? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Claywa isn't hewa," Max said. "Whew she go?"

"She went to go play with her friends," Bella told him. "Now, can you please go back to your trucks? I'm busy."

"Can I come up?" Max asked eagerly. "Maxie want to fly, too!"

"This is a big kid's game, Max," Bella said. "It's not for little kids like you."

"But Maxie has no one to play with!" Max started to pout, dropping his truck and folding his arms. "Maxie wants to play with Belly."

"Not now, Max. Mom says it's dangerous for you to be up here."

"Maxie want to come up!" He stomped his foot. "Maxie want to fly like Belly!"

"Go away, Max!" Bella barked, losing her temper. "I don't want to play with you!"

Max's eyes suddenly grew big. He picked up his truck and hung his head, all the while sniffling. He trudged into the back yard, looking back only once.

_Good riddance. He needs to learn when to quit. _Bella resumed her position, leaning her head back, almost feeling the sea air fly past.

She began to hum the song that she now knew by heart. She didn't have the best voice, which was why she usually refrained from singing and left all of the musical aspects to Claire, who was much more talented.

But today, she wasn't Bella. She was Victoria Sanford. Let anyone hear her and think what they wanted. She could order them to walk the plank or be thrown into the lower compartments of the ship.

"I am invincible," she whispered to herself.

And as she sailed on her imaginary ship for the rest of the afternoon, things finally seemed to be going right.


	7. 5: A Promise Made

Hey, y'all! Sorry...this week's been sooooooo busy for me! I feel horrible about not updating!

The story's gonna change pace just a bit now. If you guys think that this story's going to fast, just let me know, and I'll try to slow it down a little.

Happy Halloween! =)

...

**A FEW MONTHS LATER…**

...

Chapter Five: A Promise Made

Bella sat quietly in her brother's room late one night, listening at the closed door. Her parents were fighting in the kitchen, and she felt better sitting with someone else in the room.

She could hear them, all right…but she couldn't make out what, exactly, they were saying. All she knew was that it wasn't good.

True to her previous guess, her parents' fighting had gotten worse over time instead of better. Bella would find herself up in the middle of the night, awakened by their angry voices. The only way she got back to sleep was to hum the soothing Love Theme to herself. But even that hadn't worked this time.

"You had to go and be selfish…" she said out loud to herself.

"Belly?" came a voice quietly from the closet.

The voice startled her. Bella cautiously walked over and opened the closet door to see her little brother curled up in one of the corners. His face was wet from crying, and his nose was running slightly.

Normally, seeing him like this would cause eye rolling and scoffing, and maybe even a "What a baby" if she was extremely aggravated. But, somehow…under the circumstances…the sight of him caused the anger to be slowly sucked out of her, leaving her with an aching heart. She was no longer focusing on the things he _did_; she was really seeing him for the first time.

"Max?"

He stared up at her with his big brown eyes and said nothing.

"Max…"

"I heard yelling," he said in a small voice. "I got scared. I heard feetsteps, so I'm hiding."

Bella felt guilty for a second. Max had probably heard her footsteps in the hallway coming towards his room, mistaking them for their parents'. She had been so scared herself she hadn't even thought to check if he was awake or not.

"Max," she said again. "No one's coming. Mommy and Daddy aren't coming to yell at you, okay?"

Max didn't look convinced. "They don't love me anymore, Belly," he said as more tears fell across his face.

Bella felt the pain in her heart worsen. "Max, they don't hate you."

"Then why are they fighting on my birfday?"

Bella couldn't say anything. It was true that today was Max's forth birthday – a milestone in a person's life, according to their mother. And since Bella's had been three days earlier, it had been decided that there would be a joint party. Their whole extended family had been invited, including their dad. It had all gone somewhat smoothly – until everyone left and the five of them remained. Claire, Bella and Max had been sent to bed early, and a few hours later was when Bella had heard the argument and had moved to her brother's room, knowing Claire would not enjoy company this late at night.

"That's why they're yelling. They don't love me," Max repeated.

"Max…" Bella climbed into the closet and sat next to her brother. "Mommy and Daddy love you. They love the three of us."

He said nothing. He just looked at her, his eyes flooded with tears.

"Would you feel better if I slept in here?"

He didn't move for a minute. Then he nodded.

"Alright. Let's go." She got up and crawled out of the closet.

"But…what if they don't stop?"

"We can't do anything about it," Bella said grudgingly. "All we can do is try to get to sleep."

He sat in the closet for a moment longer before coming out and crawling into bed. Bella walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Max asked, clutching his blankets.

"I'm gonna go get my stuff. I'll be right back, okay?"

Max nodded, the fear in his eyes still prominent.

Bella tiptoed out of the room to retrieve her pillow, a blanket, and her plush dog Sally. She tried not to listen to her parents as she went on her errand, but it was hard not to. The more she tried, the harder it became. So she made sure she was quick.

When she came back, Max was sitting straight up in bed, looking at her. He kept watching her as she laid her stuff on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"Max, I'm not sleeping on that bed. I'm too big. And there's not enough room."

She watched in astonishment as he grabbed his pillow, a blanket, and his teddy bear and set them up on the floor, similar to how she had hers.

"I don't wanna sleep all by myself," he said. "Would it be okay if I was down here?"

"Of course," Bella said, shocked. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

Max laid down and looked up at her, tears already forming in his eyes again. "You're like Mommy and Daddy. You don't love me."

The pain in her chest was like a fire now. Usually, she would disregard this comment. But she wasn't like that any longer. She stared dumbly at him, speechless.

"W-What?" she said, finding her voice after a minute.

"You never give me hugs," he said simply, tears gently falling down his face. "And you yell a lot, too. I hear you talk to Mommy sometimes. And you sound mean. You sound like you don't love me."

Bella couldn't breathe. This was what her baby brother thought about her?

"Max…" Her voice was barely a whisper as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry. I…I know I sound that way…but it's only because I get angry."

"You're angry a lot, then," Max decided.

"Yeah," Bella said, the thought finally dawning on her as she let go. "I am, aren't I?"

Max blinked, his tears slowly disappearing.

"You just have to remember that everyone gets angry sometimes. Grown-ups like Mommy and Daddy get angry. Brothers and sisters, and even grandparents get angry. But that doesn't mean they don't love each other. I promise you that no matter what, Mommy and Daddy and Claire and I love you very, very much, Max."

Max still didn't look completely convinced, but he seemed to be understanding. A small smile appeared through his crying.

"I love you, Belly," he said, giving her a quick hug before lying down.

"I love you, too, Max," she answered, getting comfortable. She quickly wiped away the tears she realized were sitting at the rim of her eyes.

As she tried to tune out her parents' excessive bickering, she sensed something was different. She opened her eyes to see her little brother snuggled up to her, fast asleep.

She kissed him on the head. "'Night, Max," she said, drifting off to sleep.


	8. 6: Family Secrets

_Hey! Sorry about the delayed update...finals were this week, and I had a ton of other stuff going on, leaving me no time to update, obviously. But, luckily, I have a three-day weekend, so I'll have time for some updating! Yay!_

_P.S. I'll apologize in advance if this chapter sucks. I typed this in a drowsy state of mind (a.k.a. I had just woken up and my mind hadn't really caught up with me), so if it sounds like I was drunk, you now know why._

_P.P.S. This is the first chapter from Max's POV. I tried to get into the mind of a four-year-old, but considering I don't live with a four-year-old boy, it was a bit hard. But I tried my best. And once again, if I completely screwed it up, I'm always open to suggestions._

...

Chapter Six: Family Secrets

"Where is she?"

"How should I know?"

"You're her father!"

"And _I'm_ supposed to do everything?"

His parents' yelling rudely awakened Max. He had been having a very pleasant dream; he'd been fighting off a dinosaur, and there had been a band of vampires behind him, ready to intervene at any given moment.

Now that he was fully awake, he was suddenly fearful. He didn't like it when his mom and dad fought like this. He didn't understand why they couldn't be nice to each other, like he and Bella were.

He took in his surroundings, realizing he was on the floor. He remembered last night, and smiled. He no longer had to be afraid of his older sister. Now they could be friends, and she could play with him and Claire, and they could all be together.

Why couldn't his mom and dad be like that, too?

Max looked over and saw that Bella was still fast asleep. He wondered why she wasn't awake, why she wasn't bothered by the fighting. He figured that she must have been very tired from being up for a good portion of the night, listening to their parents.

"Why are you guys so freaked?" came Claire's voice from the hallway.

"Claire, your sister has apparently gone missing," Connie informed her. "And, your _father_ has no idea where she's gone."

"The kids live with _you_, Connie. _You _should know where she is!"

"Geez, you guys!" Claire exclaimed. "She's in Max's room!"

Silence filled the hallway. Max took this as a good thing.

"What?"

"She's in Max's room," Claire repeated. "I heard her sneak in there last night. She's been in there ever since." Her footsteps were on the stairs now. "Probably went in there to escape your bickering."

No sound came from the hallway. Max breathed a sigh of relief.

It didn't last for long. The doorknob to his room was slowly turning, signaling that his mom and dad would be there in a matter of seconds.

Max knew that if they saw he was up, they'd start asking him questions. He didn't like it when they did that. Most of the time, they used words he didn't understand. So he lay back down and snuggled closer to Bella, pretending to be asleep.

Right on cue, his parents came in. Or, at least, he heard them come in.

"Oh, my…" Connie trailed off.

"Would you look at that?" his dad said. "They're…"

"…not fighting," Connie finished, amazed. "This is…a miracle."

Max was happy that his parents weren't yelling anymore. And he also felt proud of himself for making peace with Bella, for it seemed to stop the fighting.

"Should we wake them up?" his dad asked.

Max almost expected his mom to start yelling again, but she didn't. "No," she said quietly. "We'll wait for them to wake up."

"But…I'd like to talk to Bella—"

"We'll wait for them to wake up," Connie repeated firmly. Their footsteps sounded again, and then the door closed.

Max opened one eye, then the other. They were gone. It was safe to sit up now.

As he did, Bella began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Hey, Max," she said sleepily.

"Hi, Belly," he said.

She smiled. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah. Did you?"

"Mmm-hmm," she fibbed, yawning and stretching. "I woke up a few times, but I went back to sleep eventually. Were Mom and Dad in here? I thought I heard someone."

"Yeah. They just left. They were scared. They didn't know where you were."

"Oh." Bella looked guilty. "I'd better go tell them what happened." She got up. "Come on, Max."

Max got up and scurried after his sister, hoping things wouldn't get too out of hand.

...

The rest of the morning passed very smoothly. Their parents apologized for upsetting them, and promised to keep their tempers low around them. Max noticed that Bella was about to say something to their mom, but closed her mouth before she said anything.

Breakfast was fairly quiet. Max had graduated from mashed bananas to cut-up bananas, and he couldn't wait for the day when he was ready for what he called "people" food.

He spent the rest of the day drawing monsters and dragons and anything else he could think of. Connie was in her office, working, and Claire had, once again, gone off with her friends. His dad had taken Bella out that day for special "father-daughter" time.

When they got back, Max raced to meet them. "Daddy! Belly! Come look at what I drawed!"

His dad was very impressed with Max's drawings, but Bella seemed very sullen. And even after his dad left, Bella wouldn't talk to anybody. She stared at the ground, or zoned out, deep in thought.

Max was worried. What if she was sick? Or maybe she was going to live with their dad and wouldn't come back? Burdened with these questions, he decided to ask her.

"Belly? Is everything okay?"

She blinked a few times, signaling that she was a bit surprised at his approach. "Oh. Yeah. Sure."

"Are you sure? You seem sad."

"I'm alright, Max." She gave him an unconvincing smile. "Really."

He stared at her. He wasn't going to leave until she gave him an answer.

She sighed. "I'm fine. It's just…Daddy told me a lot of things today, is all. He gave me a lot to think about."

Max interpreted this as the following: "Dad told me a lot of grownup stuff that you can't hear because you're too little."

Bella seemed to know how he felt. She ruffled his hair and smiled sadly. "I promise I'll tell you all about it someday. That sound good?"

"Yes," Max conceded, knowing that it was useless to pry anything more out of her. And as he walked away, Max began to wonder what other secrets his family was keeping from him.

And – when he was old enough – if he'd ever learn them.


	9. 7: Sick Day

_Hey! Here's another "filler" chapter. Sorry if it's boring..._

...

Chapter Seven: Sick Day

"Bella, I'm sorry. You'll have to stay in bed today."

Bella opened her mouth to protest, but all that came out was a series of coughs. She had been up half the night with a runny nose and a sore throat, and now she had a bad cough, to top it all off.

"But, Mom…" Bella said when coughing subsided. "It's the weekend…*cough, cough*. I wanted to…*cough, cough, cough*…go out and play in the…*cough*…snow."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. You're sneezing, you have a sore throat, and you're coughing up a lung." She thrust a thermometer under Bella's tongue and looked at it a minute later. "You're also burning up."

"But…" Bella started, trying to sit up.

"No buts," Connie said firmly, walking out the door. "You can move to my bed for today, but I don't want you getting up too much."

Bella glumly got out of bed and followed Connie to her room. This was usually where the kids went if they were sick because they could have the luxury of lying in bed all day while still being able to watch TV.

"I'm going to call in sick," Connie said, reaching for the cordless phone. "You can't be home by yourself in the state you're in." She walked out of the room, dialing the number of her work.

Bella reached for the TV remote and turned on SpongeBob. Every time she tried to laugh, all that came out was excessive coughing.

A soft knock came from outside the room. "Bella?" came Max's voice.

Bella tried to tell Max to go away, but she once again began to cough. Max opened the door and walked in.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

Bella nodded and emitted a sneeze.

"Do you need a Kleenex?"

Bella nodded again, trying not to stare at her hands, which were now covered in green.

Max went out of the room and came back with a Kleenex box. "Here, Bella," he said, handing it to her.

"Thanks," Bella said quickly, afraid that she'd start coughing if she tried to talk anymore.

"Bella? Is it okay if I stay here with you?" Max asked, toeing the carpet.

Bella shook her head. "I'm sick," Bella said, restraining herself from coughing.

"I can take care of you," Max said, looking up at her with his big, brown eyes. "I can ask Mommy to help me make you some soup."

Bella was about to tell him that she'd think about it when Connie suddenly reappeared. "Max, you can't be in here today," she said, herding him out. "Bella's sick, and we don't want you getting sick, either."

"But—"

"No buts," Connie said firmly. "Today this room is off-limits, okay?"

"Okay," Max conceded. He turned and waved sadly. "Bye, Bella."

Bella caught a sneeze in a Kleenex before waving back.

Connie shut the door behind Max and then turned to her daughter. "What's gotten into you two?"

Bella was confused. "Huh?"

"You two have been getting along fine for the past two months," Connie said, folding her arms. "You've only had about...what, five minor disagreements at the most? This is the first time since…Max was born that you've been nice to each other."

Bella shrugged. "I don't know," she said, once again restraining a cough. "Maybe you were right about it being a phase. Maybe I've grown out of it."

"Bella, it's not good to do that," Connie remarked. "Go ahead and cough."

Bella nodded and let herself cough, and what started out as one or two turned into a coughing spasm. When she was done, her chest hurt.

"I'm gonna try to find some medicine," Connie said more to herself than Bella. She walked out of the room and closed the door.

...

The day was very uneventful after that. Bella slept for a few hours and watched TV the rest of the time. Her meals were brought to her on a cookie tray, and all she drank was water. She would look out the window now and then, jealous of the kids who got to go out and play (although she was happy that there wasn't any snow just yet).

In the middle of the afternoon, Bella heard someone at the door. She thought it was Connie at first, but she quickly realized it wasn't when she heard the light pattering of feet on the hallway floor.

She got up and saw that the door was still closed, but someone had slipped a piece of paper under the door. Bella got up to retrieve it before settling back into bed.

She felt a smile spread across her face when she read what was on the paper:

_Dear Bella,_

_Please get well soon. I miss you._

_Love, Max_

Under the note was a stick figure drawing of Max and Bella, fighting off a dragon. Max was portrayed as a wolf in a superhero outfit, wielding a sword, while it looked as if Bella had fangs protruding from her mouth and was karate-kicking the dragon. Next to the two stick figures were the words _Max the Super Wolf_ and _Bella the Vampire_.

Even though she still didn't feel one hundred percent healthy, Bella sensed that she was now feeling a little better. She'd have to thank Max later for curing her loneliness.

...

A week after getting over her cold-flu-whatever-it-was, Bella started to have an itch. It came in red bumpy patches; it would start one place, and then it would jump to another part of her body. All day at school, Bella felt itchy, and found herself scratching excessively.

"Bella," Tori said at lunch, "your neck is all red and spotty."

"I know," Bella said, flinching from the pain of scratching. "And so are my arms and my legs and everywhere else."

"You should go see the nurse. You might have chicken pox."

"I already had that when I was five. Besides, it keeps moving."

"Huh?" Tori cocked her head, confused.

"Like, my arms will itch, then it'll stop, then my feet will itch, then it'll stop, and—"

"Okay, I get it," Tori said. "I don't care what it is. You need to see the nurse."

...

It turned out that she had hives. Both the school nurse and the doctor she was taken to said that it was most likely and after effect from whatever she had had the previous week. Bella was told that she needed to keep the rash from worsening by keeping cool and taking Benadryl, along with staying away from wool and polyester until she got better.

Although the hives only lasted a few days, Bella was miserable the whole time. She quickly learned that hives could be very unpredictable, and often found herself rubbing the bottoms of her feet on the carpet or clawing at her elbows. She knew that scratching only made it worse, but it was much too hard to simply let the Benadryl take effect, especially since it only lasted for four hours.

The day after she was feeling better, Bella found another drawing lying on her bed. This one read:

_Dear Bella,_

_I'm glad you're feeling better. I really missed you. Maybe tomorrow you and I can play together._

_Max_

Accompanying this note was a picture of Max the Super Wolf, fighting off red spots that looked an awful lot like her hives. In the background was Bella the Vampire, smiling and covered with various Band-Aids, indicating that she was all better.

Bella smiled. Her mother had a rule that if anyone in the house was sick, they needed to wait at least three days before getting back to their normal schedule. But this time, she was determined to break the rules. Max wanted - needed - a playmate, and she was determined to fill that spot.

Her mother would understand…eventually.


	10. 8: A Day With Max Carson

_Hola! Again, I'm really sorry about not updating sooner! School and extra-cirriculars are taking over my brain...LOL not really, but I'm super busy this weekend, so I'm guessing this is the only post I'll be able to do. But, I have days off for Thanksgiving in a couple weeks, so that means more posting! WHOO!_

_Oh, and here's a little anecdote about the mood for this chapter: I was watching some Where The Wild Things Are behind-the-scenes stuff this morning on YouTube, and there was a video about all the kids they had on the movie set. They were all sooooo cute, running around and doing goofy things! So it motivated me to make this chapter very uplifting._

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Eight: A Day With Max Carson

_Munch-munch-munch._

Claire looked up from her homework and gave a warning look.

_Munch-munch-munch._

Claire simply ignored her.

_Munch-munch-munch._

Claire slammed the book shut. "Could you please go do that somewhere else?"

Bella shoved more animal crackers into her mouth. "Mom always says that I can't leave the table unless I've finished my food." She made certain that the tiny bits stuck inside her mouth were visible.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you have something better to do today."

"Hmm, let's see…" Bella tapped her chin, making it look like she was considering her options and actually caring that she was bothering her sister. After a few seconds, she stopped. "No." She began to munch loudly on a lion and a rhinoceros. "Now I know you're feeling better," Claire muttered as she gathered her things and moved into the living room. "You have the energy to annoy me to my wit's end."

Bella watched her walk away. "Love you, too, Claire," she said snidely.

"Bella!" Max came running down the stairs. "Look! Look what I made!" He proudly beamed as he held out a structure made of Legos.

"Wow, Max, that's really cool," Bella said, really meaning it. She wasn't skilled when it came to making things. She always needed help with arts and crafts at Girl Scout Camp, whether it be beading or widdeling or even rope tying.

"It's a boat, see?" Max pointed to his construction. "It's really strong and can get through anything!"

"That's really neat," Bella said. "You've really got a knack for building things, don't you?"

"Uh-huh." Max nodded his head up and down excitedly.

"You wanna do something today, since I'm feeling better?"

"Yeah!" Max was practically bouncing off the walls. "Let's go play!" He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the door.

"Okay, okay!" Bella was gasping for breath from trying to keep up with him. "Slow down, buddy!"

"We're going out to pla-ay! We're going out to pla-ay!" Max sang, retrieving his tennis shoes.

Claire looked at them from the living room. "Oh, good. You're going outside. Don't be afraid to stay out there long. I'm gonna need some peace and quiet – for once."

Bella walked out the door, shaking her head. Claire, being the snake in the grass that she was, took advantage of Bella and Max's newfound friendship. She continued to go off with her own friends and find excuses why she couldn't play with them, only spending time with the two of them once a week now.

"What are we gonna do, Bella?" Max asked, still bouncing up and down. "You wanna go to the park?" A few blocks away, there was a park, complete with a playground and jungle gym.

"Sure. Let's go. But you have to hold my hand when we cross the street."

"Fine." Max grabbed her hand impatiently. "Let's just _go_!"

When they arrived at the park, no one else was there. There hadn't been any snow yet, but it was still a bit cold outside. Max immediately ran to the playground and went down the biggest slide a few times. Bella couldn't help but start laughing.

"Geez, Max, where'd all this pent-up energy come from?"

Max didn't answer her question. "Come on, Bella! Go down the slide!"

She climbed the ladder and went down the metal slide. Although it was the biggest slide on the playground, it was also the slowest, and wasn't very fun. "Whee…" she said, trying to sound enthused.

"That was pathetic!" Max exclaimed, surprising Bella with the last word. "You gotta do it like this!" He climbed up the ladder and went down again. "WHEE!" he cried. He landed on his feet and looked at her. "Now you try it."

"Max…"

He pointed to the slide. "Do it."

This time, Bella made sure she sounded excited. "WHEE!" she said, mentally cringing at how stupid she must have look.

"That's more like it!" Max said, now hanging from the monkey bars. "Look, Bella! I'm a monkey!" He hung by one arm and waved.

"Max, you gotta be careful on those things!" Bella said, but couldn't help but giggle.

"Whoo!" Max swung back and forth, finally climbing on top of the bars. "I'm King of the Playground!" he declared.

Bella was laughing now – her loud, unladylike laugh that could upset birds nesting in the trees.

"What's so funny?" Max demanded.

"Nothing," Bella said. "It's just…I didn't think you could be so…lively!"

Max looked thoughtful for a moment. "Your turn!" he said, climbing down from the monkey bars.

"My turn for what?"

"Well, I showed you how to slide down a slide. Now _you _have to show me how to do something."

Bella sighed. "Max, you know I'm not good at that kind of thing."

"Show me!" Max stamped his foot and folded his arms. "Remember, I'm King of the Playground, and if I want something, I _get _it. Or I'll have to put you in jail!" He pointed to an alcove just under one of the smaller slides.

Being put in jail wasn't the worst thing that could happen, but Bella knew that Max would have her stay there for a while, and just sitting under a slide wasn't all that fun. She racked her brain for something – anything – that would impress Max – and maybe calm him down a little.

"I got it," she said. "Follow me."

She led him around the playground first, just to keep him entertained. The idea she had was a bit boring, but it was all she could think of.

She finally led him to the tallest point of the playground. "Okay, Max. You ready?"

Max nodded.

"First, close your eyes."

Max did so, but quickly opened one of them.

"No peeking."

Max sighed, but did as he was told.

"Good. Now, give me your hand."

"You're not gonna push me off this thing, are you?" Max asked.

Bella was shocked. "No. Why would I do that? Just give me your hand. I promise I won't let you fall."

Max seemed a bit reluctant, but let her guide him to the edge of the tower. She noticed that the wind was gently blowing, which made doing this even better.

"Okay. Now spread out your arms."

He tentatively did.

"Now open your eyes."

As he did, he began to look around. Bella was afraid that he wouldn't get what she was trying to show him, but what he said next changed all that:

"I'm flying, Bella!"

"Yeah, it feels like that, doesn't it?"

"No," he said in his commanding King voice. "I'm really flying."

"Yeah," she said. "You are."

...

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Max asked, later that day.

"Mom," Bella said, knowing that her answer was partly true.

"It was really cool," Max said.

"It's even cooler in my tree house," Bella remarked. "You…you wouldn't wanna go up and try it, would you?"

She loved seeing Max's face light up like a Christmas tree. She knew Max had wanted to go up in her tree house for the longest time, and after today, she knew that he was ready.

When they got up there, Max was in awe. "Wow," he said, looking around. "This is…wow!"

"I knew you'd like it."

He stood on the deck and looked out over the neighborhood, spreading out his arms airplane-style. "You're right," he said. "It _is _better up here."

Bella smiled, and after a minute, spread out her arms and flew away with Max.


	11. 9: Spirit of the Season

_Hi! Sorry it's been so long! I have school...and homework. Plus last night I finally got some of my guy friends to watch _Twilight_...and they think it's a decent movie. Anyway, this is a filler chapter (and the next couple will be, too...sorry), and I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but what the heck? They already have some Christmas music on the radio station...so why not?_

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Nine: Spirit of the Season

"Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the waaaayyy!" Max half-sang, half shouted. "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleeeiiiggghhh!"

The song ended, and Max clapped his hands. "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

"Let's not and say we did," Claire said from the front seat, clearly disgusted. "Mom, can we _please _change the station? You know how I feel about Christmas music."

While Connie explained to Claire how it was tradition to listen to Christmas music at Christmastime, Bella stared out the window of the car. Everywhere she looked there was snow – blankets of snow, all lying on the ground and on the roofs of the buildings and on the streetlights. There was only two weeks left until Christmas Eve, and this year, they'd been lucky to have snow before that day rolled around.

Soft piano music filled the car's speakers. "Oh, I love this song!" Connie turned the volume up.

"This isn't that shoe song, is it?" Claire grimaced.

"So what if it is?" Connie asked. "It's such a good song…it makes me want to cry every time I hear it."

"It makes me want to barf," Claire muttered.

"Well, it's my car, and we're listening to it." Connie gave her a playful smile. "When you're old enough to drive, you can listen to what you want in _your _car."

"I don't like this song," Max piped up from the backseat. "It's boring. I want Jingle Bells!"

"They won't play that for a few more hours," Claire informed him. "Until then, we have to put up with _this_." She gestured with her hands to the speakers. A man's husky voice was now coming out of them.

"This guy can't sing!" Max exclaimed. "I want Jingle Bells!"

"Stop complaining, you two!" The radio switched off, and the car stopped. "We're here."

...

It was known throughout Bella's family that Connie always did her shopping at the last minute. Not that Bella minded; she loved the feeling she got when she saw all the Christmas trees and paper snowflakes in the store windows. It also gave her and her siblings a chance to sneak a peek at their presents – if they were quiet enough and Connie didn't catch them.

Looking in the girl section at Toys R Us, she saw this year's Holiday Barbie. She hoped to herself that her grandparents didn't get her one this year. It wasn't that she was against Barbie or anything, like her mother; or that she was too old for dolls, like Claire. She just wasn't sure what to do with stuff like that anymore. Special edition dolls were "collectibles", meant to gather dust in a box or on a shelf until their owner got older and sensible enough to put them on eBay.

"Bella!" Max called. "Bella, come look at this!"

She found him in the Lego aisle. He was excitedly pointing to a huge box with a spaceship on the front. "Look! That's an actual spaceship!" he said. "It's huge!"

"Sure is," Bella said, mildly impressed.

"You think Mommy's gonna get it for me?"

"I don't know, Max," Bella said, knowing that they were standing in front of one of Max's presents. "Mom keeps that kind of thing to herself. It's hard to say."

"You know, don't you?" Max looked at her in mock annoyance. "You know what I'm getting!"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

Max shoved her playfully. "No fair!"

"If I told you what I knew, it wouldn't be all that fun when you open your presents, now would it?"

Max considered this. "Fine."

The music over the intercom changed to a cheery, upbeat tune. Max's eyes lit up.

"Jingle Bells!" he said happily, skipping off.

Bella shook her head, laughing and trying to keep up with him.

...

"Presents! Presents! Presents!" Max sat eagerly by the tree, eyeing all the brightly wrapped boxes.

"Hang on, Max," Connie said, holding a video camera. "I want to film everyone opening their presents."

"Mom!" Bella covered her face with her pajama sleeves. "That's lame! Who does that anymore?"

"Bella, if you can't say anything nice, keep your mouth shut." She looked toward the stairs. "Claire! Come on! It's Christmas! You can't sleep all day, honey!"

Claire came down the stairs in a sulk, clearly not happy to have been woken up at seven in the morning. "Can we hurry this up? I'd like to go back to sleep."

"Hang on a second," came their dad's voice from the kitchen. He'd decided to spend Christmas with them this year, despite the fact that he and Connie weren't living together for the time being. But Bella and Max were happy to notice that the two of them were tolerating each other and hadn't had a fight for a while.

"Okay." Connie hit the record button. "Go see what Santa brought you!"

Max tore into his presents in a frenzy. "Which one should I open first?"

"Open the ones from Santa, sweetie," Connie said. "No, not all at once!"

Max got some toys and games (and the Lego spaceship), which he opened immediately, ignoring Connie's pleas not to. Claire got some CDs and a pair of nicely made headphones, which she immediately ran up to her room, so Max wouldn't get too crazy and break them.

Compared to Max's excitement level, Bella's wasn't nearly as high. She was grateful for her presents from Santa – a set of _Harry Potter_ books, a Madame Alexander doll, a Cranium board game, the _Finding Nemo _movie – but try as she might, she just couldn't match Max's happiness.

"Time to open Grandma and Grandpa's presents," Connie announced.

Max got more toys and stuffed animals, and Bella and Claire got some clothes. Bella also received a journal, and Claire got some jewelry and stationary.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, holding up a pack of paper. "Who uses stationary anymore?"

"Claire," their dad said, sipping his coffee and opening one of his own presents. "Your grandparents were nice enough to go out and get you something. I'm not saying you have to use it—"

"Of course she's using it," Connie cut in. "To write her thank-yous. Right, Claire?"

"Fine." Claire tossed the pack aside.

"Bella, I think I see something else from Grandma and Grandpa under there," Connie said.

Bella reached for a square-looking package. The gift tag read _To Bella. Merry Christmas! Love ya, Grandma and Grandpa. _She tore the wrapping from the box. It revealed a blonde figure in a green velvet dress, surrounded by snowflakes and a gold background.

"Gee," Bella said, trying to maintain her disappointment. "It's a…it's a…"

"It's a Holiday Barbie!" Connie said, also trying to sound happy. "Aw, look! She's so…festive. We'll have to make sure that you send a very nice thank-you to Grandma and Grandpa for that."

Their parents got them similar gifts, along with an extra-special present. Claire's was a digital camera (which she also ran upstairs to her room), and Bella was surprised to receive an American Girl doll. But compared to his bounciness earlier, Max was at an all-new level when he opened his present.

"A WOLF SUIT!" he exclaimed. Connie glanced at their dad, and Bella could tell that this hadn't been what her mother had wanted to give Max.

"I wanna put it on!" Max tried to fit into the suit, but it was much too big for him.

"I'll get some pins and tape," Connie said, handing the video camera to her husband.

"I figured that he'd grow into it," he said, holding up his hands in defense. "I didn't think it'd be this big on him."

"Look, Bella," Max said. "I'm a wolf." He growled, showing his teeth.

Bella giggled. "You're one scary-looking wolf. I wouldn't wanna mess with you."

Satisfied with her answer, Max smiled. He hugged her. "Merry Christmas, Bella."

She ruffled his ears, realizing that this Christmas hadn't been as bad as she'd initially thought. "Merry Christmas, Max."


	12. 10: A Not So Good Day

_Hey! Sorry about not updating sooner! School's trying to kill me...and so are my teachers (jk, jk...). Anyway, this chapter's a bit more on the angsty side, and I apologize if you guys don't like it. _

_P.S. Obviously, the classroom scene was based off of the one in the movie, and I got the idea for the dialogue from my copy of _The Wild Things _by Dave Eggers. I don't own either one._

_Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!_

...

Chapter Ten: A Not So Good Day

Max refused to take off his wolf suit for the rest of Christmas vacation. "I'm a wolf! Wolfs need fur!" he'd insist when Connie would try to convince him to take it off. She eventually gave up the battle and let him wear it, but finally got him to leave it at home as soon as they went back to school.

Bella hated school. It was just another place where she didn't quite fit in. Most of the kids in her grade thought she was weird; the only friend she really had was Tori, who was in the other class.

"The sun," Mrs. Wertben explained, "is the center of our solar system."

No response came from the students. They were doodling in their notebooks or flicking pen caps at each other or sleeping. Bella was trying to read a book under her desk.

"This is so lame," said Gerry Anne from beside her. "I want to go home and sleep."

Usually, Bella disagreed with Gerry Anne. She wasn't someone Bella tried to be nice to, and vice versa. But today, Bella found she was thinking the same thing.

"The sun is the highest source of energy," Mrs. Wertben said. "However, what few people realize is that, like everything on earth, the sun isn't immortal. Like everything else, it will eventually die."

Bella dropped her book, her eyes shooting to the white board.

"What will happen is the sun will first expand, like this." Mrs. Wertben turned to the drawing she'd done on the white board, gesturing to it. "Then it will envelop the planets – including Earth. Like I said before, the sun is the highest source of energy, but that energy will eventually run out."

She looked up at the florescent lights. "Can someone tell me what happens when a light bulb runs out of energy?"

The class gave her blank looks. They thought that her question seemed to be the dumbest thing ever. The teacher, in reality, had the rapt attention of only one of her students, whose hand rose slowly in the air.

"Yes, Isabella?"

"It…burns out?"

"Correct. And that's precisely what will happen to the sun's light, and when that light goes out, the solar system will go dark…permanently."

_Permanently? _That word bounced across her mind, unable to sink in. Bella refused to believe that the sun was going to die. She half-expected some camera people to jump out at any second, and then Ashton Kutcher would tell the class that they were on TV and had just been "punk'd".

"Of course," Mrs. Wertben continued, oblivious to her unresponsive class, "that won't happen for another four or six billion years! By then, the human race will be gone, extinct from either war, global warming, natural disasters, disease, the vile takeover of technology…"

_And this is supposed to make me feel better about the end of the world? _Bella was sure that she'd start crying any second now.

Mrs. Wertben looked at the children and smiled. "Wow, don't I sound like a real ray of sunshine! But let me assure you all that by the time the sun goes out, we'll all be dead and gone. In fact, the human race will most likely be forgotten by then…and all of our accomplishments, also."

The bell rang, and the students bolted out of the room.

"I really wish I'd stayed in bed today," Gerry Anne said.

...

Bella sat quietly in her seat, looking out the bus window. The sun shone brightly in the sky, showing no telltale signs that it would one day perish.

"Hey, Carson!" a boy across the aisle called.

Bella turned her indifferent expression to Randy Hazrow, a boy in her grade. He terrorized her daily on the bus, whether it was with threats or his dirty jokes. She usually had a witty comeback or retort to say to him, but after class today, she didn't have the energy.

"What, Randy?"

"Aw, did I upset you?" Randy pouted and made puppy dog eyes. "Does the poor baby want her momma?"

Bella turned back to the window.

"Hey, Carson! If you don't answer me, I'm gonna knock all your teeth out."

"I'd like to see you try that, blockhead," Bella muttered.

Randy looked at her. "What did you say?"

Bella tensed up. "Nothing."

"You called me a bad word, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't."

A smile crossed Randy's face. "I'm gonna tell the bus driver!"

Bella groaned inwardly as Randy stood up from his seat.

"BUS DRIVER!" he called. "BELLA SAID *$#^!"

"So did you, loser!" an older kid called from the back. "Shut up!"

"BUS DRIVER!" Randy said again. "BELLA CALLED ME A *$#^!"

The bus driver, a middle-age woman with dyed-red hair and black Crocks, pulled her intercom device from the wall. "Sit down, Mr. Hazrow," she commanded.

"But Bella's swearing back here! She called me a—"

"We are all aware of what happened, Mr. Hazrow. Please take your seat, or I'll pull the bus over."

"I didn't say anything! He's lying!" Bella wasn't going to put up with this.

"She's bullying me! Someone help!"

"STOP IT!" She took her lunchbox and smacked him over the head. He fell on his seat, shielding himself from another blow.

"Knock it off back there!" the bus driver was angry now. She shifted her gaze – concealed by sunglasses – to Bella. "Miss Carson, I'll be speaking with you when we arrive at your stop."

Randy gave her a grin. "Ooh, your in trouble."

"Thanks a lot, Randy," Bella said, leaning her head against the window.

"Any time, Carson," he said. "Anytime."

...

The moving blur of houses began to become clearer, finally revealing her home. Bella got up from her seat and walked down the aisle. It seemed as if the front of the bus was moving further away with ever step she took.

"You didn't say anything to Mr. Hazrow, did you?" the bus driver asked in her sharp voice.

Bella nodded, staring at her feet.

"That's what I thought. But it wasn't smart to smack him on the head like you did. I'm gonna have to separate you two from now on. And if anything happens like this again, both of you will be suspended from the bus. Remember: riding the bus is a privilege…"

"…not a right," Bella finished.

"Exactly." The bus doors open. "Have a nice day."

Bella got off the bus and practically ran into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Hi, honey," Connie said. "How was school?"

"Oh, you know…" Bella said. "It was okay."

...

Bella was very quiet for the rest of the night. No one questioned her about it, and she liked it that way. But she knew that, sooner or later, at least one member of her family would ask her; the tolerance level for secrets in that house was almost zero.

Sure enough, while she was staring out the window, a knock came at her bedroom door.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and Max came in. "Hi, Bella."

"Hey, Max." She made room for him on the window seat. "What's up?"

"You didn't have a good day at school, did you?"

Bella tried to act like this shocked her. "What makes you say that?"

"You were happy when we left this morning, and now you're sad." Max's face was filled with genuine concern. "I don't like it when you're sad. It makes me sad."

"Max, I'm not sad." She tried to smile. "School today just wasn't as great as it could have been, is all."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Max looked at the floor and held out a piece of paper. "I made you this. I hope you feel better."

It was one of Max's signature drawings. Instead of being Max the Super Wolf, he was King Max, and he held a glowing sword. He was fighting off a school bus – or, at least, it looked like a school bus, only it looked more like a big, yellow dragon. Looking out one of the windows was Bella the Vampire, crying for help.

"This is so nice," Bella said. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about Bella," Max said, pointing to the picture. "King Max is able to get her out of the evil dragon."

"That's very reassuring," Bella said, looking out the window at the starry sky.

"Bella?"

"Yeah, Max?"

"We're…we're not gonna die in a few years…are we?"

"No." She furrowed her brow, contemplating this. "Why?"

"A few kids at my school said that there's gonna be a date called 666, and we're all gonna die." His brown eyes widened with worry. "It's not gonna happen, is it?"

"It won't happen then, Max. They're just trying to scare everybody."

"But…will it happen eventually?"

Bella wished he wouldn't have asked her this. She didn't want to talk about it, or think about how the sun was going to die.

"I don't know, Max." She took him in her arms. "I really don't know."

He didn't question her further, and they sat in the peaceful silence, both hoping for a miracle, a long life, and for the next day to come.


	13. 11: A Very Unfortunate Event

_This one's kind of a bit depressing, but I couldn't think of much else. Sorry if it's not that good._

...

Chapter Eleven: A Very Unfortunate Event

The girls' high-pitched laughter filled the house. It reached Bella's ears, reminding her that she would do anything to join in their fun.

Today was March 25th – Claire's thirteenth birthday. Now that she was a teenager, she was much too mature to have Bella hanging around. So this year for her birthday party, Claire had decided to invite all her friends – and disinvite her sister.

"Who needs them?" Bella said out loud. "I can have my own fun." She sat on her bedroom floor, looking around the room for something to do.

_What's the point? I've already done everything there is to do in here. _She stared at the ceiling, trying to think. After a few minutes of just staring at the bland white stucco, she finally gave up.

Her door opened suddenly. "Hi, sweetie," Connie said.

Bella wasn't about to let her mother in on her boredom. She put on a fake smile. "Hi, Mom. How's the party going?"

"Fine." She stood in the doorframe, looking lovingly at Bella. "I just wanted to see how things were going in here."

"I'm a-okay." Bella widened her already-phony grin. "Nothing out of the ordinary going on in here."

Connie sighed. "You've been sulking in here this whole time, haven't you?"

Bella slumped her shoulders, knowing that it would be useless to lie to her mother. "This isn't fair. I've been to all of her other birthday parties. Why is this one different?"

"She's growing up." Connie gave her daughter a sympathetic look. "I wish I could do something, Bella, I really do."

Bella didn't know what to think anymore. She knew her mother had the authority to force Claire to allow her to come to the party. But she also knew that Connie didn't want to get involved in something as petty as that, so she allowed Claire to do whatever.

"Do you want me to bring you a piece of cake?" Connie asked. "It's ice cream cake. I know it's your favorite."

Bella shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

Connie walked in and sat herself next to Bella. "Sweetie," she said. "I know you're upset. And I'm sorry that there's nothing I can do about that."

Bella looked at Connie. "I just wish there was something fun I could do."

Connie looked thoughtful. "Hmm. That phrase sounds familiar."

"Familiar? How?"

"Oh…maybe it's because that's exactly what a four-year-old boy just said to me five minutes ago."

Bella felt a pang of guilt. "He…he did?"

"Mmm-hmm. He's been in his room all day, depressed that his older sister hasn't bothered to play with him."

Bella looked away. The thought had never occurred to her to go and spend time with Max. She'd been too busy grousing about Claire that she'd completely forgotten about him.

"You know," Connie said. "I'm sure that if you apologize enough, he might come around."

Bella gave a sad smile. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

...

Max lay upside-down on his bed, feeling all the blood rush from his body to his brain. He was a bat – a vicious, bloodthirsty vampire bat. He slept during the daylight hours, and only came out at night to hunt his prey.

He felt his vision start to go blurry around the edges. Hanging upside-down like this made him dizzy, but at least he was doing something. It took his mind off of his sisters – and what they'd done to him.

Max still couldn't believe that Claire had failed to invite him to her birthday party. He'd gone to the one the year before; all of her friends fussed over him and thought he was the cutest thing they'd ever seen. He was quickly annoyed with this after a few minutes, but at least he'd gotten some cake.

This year, though, Claire had made a specific demand that he and Bella were banned from coming downstairs until after the party was over. Max was somewhat put out about this, but it was more because of the fact that he wouldn't get any cake than not attending the actual party itself.

Max's anger quickly shifted to Bella. She was more upset than he was about missing the party. He didn't mind that she was, because he figured that since they both were stuck up here for the day, they might as well make the most of it and do something fun. But she hadn't come in once today; she was in her own room, most likely pouting.

It confused him that she'd forget he existed so easily. They were each other's best friend, and did almost everything together. Yet today marked an event that rocked Max's way of thinking so hard, he wasn't sure if he'd ever view his sister the same way again.

_I don't need Bella and her stupid girl brain, _he told himself as his head pulsed with blood. _I'm a bat. Bats are loners, always on alert. And if she comes in here, I can suck her blood, and she'll be sorry she ignored me._

As he was thinking this, the door to his room slowly creaked open. He saw Bella's head peek in.

"Max? It's me."

He glared at her – or, tried to glare at her. It was difficult when there was so much blood pressing against his face.

"Go away," he said. "I'm a bat, and I'm provoked easily."

"I just came in to see if you wanted to go down to the park." She sounded hopeful and apologetic. He guessed that Connie had just had a talk with her.

"Too bad. Like I said, I'm a bat. I sleep during the day." He awkwardly folded his arms over his face, pretending they were his wings.

"We can play bats at the park, Max. It'll be fun."

"If you keep bugging me, I'll suck your blood," he threatened. "I'll eat you for dinner."

"Max." Her tone was hard, but her eyes revealed that she was miserable. "I'm sorry I didn't come in here sooner. I was too caught up in thinking about Claire."

He looked at her through his "wings", but quickly looked away. "I don't care if you're sorry. I'm mad at you."

"I know you are. I don't blame you for being mad at me." She took a step toward him. "Just know that I'm really sorry, Max. I don't wanna fight."

Max quickly went through the pros and cons of staying mad at Bella. On the plus side, he would be alone in his room for the rest of the day. He liked the idea of being by himself; it gave him time to think. But he didn't want to pass up a chance to go down to the park. Connie wouldn't let him go by himself yet since he was only four. And he didn't want to be mad at Bella, he really didn't. Now that Claire was getting older and seemed to think she was Miss Independent, Bella was the only one who would play with him. Like he'd established before, she was his best friend.

"You…you really mean it when you're sorry?"

Bella nodded. "Of course."

Max slowly brought his arms from his head and let them hang limp. He heaved himself upright, feeling the blood drain from his head back to his body. The light-headed feeling vanished.

"I'll play with you," he decided. "On one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You have to do whatever I say," Max said. "You need to prove yourself worthy."

Bella giggled, seeming to see through his anger. "Alright. You wanna head down to the park now?"

Max nodded, sliding off the bed.

...

"Okay, Mr. Bat," Bella said, curtseying. "What must I do first?"

"I'm not a bat anymore," Max said in his kingly voice. "I'm King of the Playground. And I hereby order you to go across the monkey bars."

"No sweat," Bella said.

"On your feet."

Bella gulped. "You mean…climb on top and walk across?"

Max nodded.

"But…that looks really dangerous."

"Who's the King of the Playground?" Max questioned.

Bella sighed. "You are."

Max nodded again. "Go on."

Bella nervously walked to the monkey bars. She climbed the ladder and hoisted herself on top. She shakily stood up. Max watched her the whole time.

_It's okay, Bella…it's not so bad up here. Just walk across and—_

Her foot slipped, and she momentarily lost her balance.

"You okay?" Max called. He seemed worried now.

"I'm good," Bella assured him. She was careful to take slow steps, for fear she'd fall and fracture something.

She went along like this, aware that she could fall again. It made her incredibly scared. Now, you may think that Bella was scared to be up on the monkey bars because she was afraid of heights. She was actually very indifferent to being up high; it didn't bother her. Her real fear was the clumsiness she had inherited from her father. She was notorious for being unable to keep her balance, and that was why Max, knowing this, had challenged her to do this task.

_Don't fall…don't fall…don't—_

It happened again. Only this time, she teetered sideways. She heard Max take in a sharp breath. Her arms flailed as she tried to maintain her balance.

Then that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach came. She knew she was falling towards the ground. She needed to be quick; grab onto something. Anything.

Her hand found a monkey bar, and she curled her fingers around it. She hung there, watching her feet dangling just inches above the ground. She saw Max's eyes grow to the size of flying saucers.

She tried clambered back up to the top, determined to finish her job. But her hands slipped again, and down, down, down she fell. She hit the mulch, hearing the sickening pop of something underneath her.

Bella fought not to scream. Her leg was suddenly shooting with pain, but she couldn't scare Max. She couldn't scare herself.

Max ran to her. "Bella! Are you okay?"

She winced slightly. "I'm fine, Max." She tried to stand up, but collapsed back on the ground.

"You hurt your leg!" Max's eyes were filled with tears. "This is all my fault! I'm sorry! You could've DIED!"

"But I didn't," she said. "I'm fine, Max." She got up, but had to use the monkey bars for support.

"We've gotta get home," Max said. "We gotta tell Mommy."

She nodded, fighting the tears she knew would come soon. "Yeah…let's go."

"You can't walk by yourself." He put one of her arms over his shoulders. "Come on. You can lean on me."

Bella was too bewildered to argue. She leaned lightly on Max, and together they gradually made their way back home.


	14. 12: To The Hospital

_This chapter is dedicated to Nausicaa of the Spirits for the idea that inspired Bella's dream. Thanx!_

_IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep said dream in mind, it may pop up later...*wink, wink*_

...

Chapter Twelve: To The Hospital

Connie was, of course, experiencing two thousand different emotions at once.

"I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with you, Isabella," she kept repeating. Each time hurt more than the last, and Bella now felt her chest start to throb.

The party, of course, had to be cut short. Connie let Claire's friends use their phone to call their parents, and after phoned the hospital to let them know they were coming in.

Claire didn't utter a word the whole time. Bella guessed that her older sister was angry with her for being the indirect cause of her short birthday party. But Claire continued to sit in the living room, looking at the floor as if something interesting was written across the hard wood.

Max stayed by her side. He kept trying to explain to Connie that it was his fault Bella had broken her leg, and each time Bella refuted it, saying that she could have refused to do what Max had said. Connie seemed to side with Bella, and kept reassuring Max that he was not to blame for "any of this mess".

After all of Claire's friends had left, Bella was carried out to their car and laid across the backseat. Max climbed into the very back, careful not to bump her leg. The drive there, although fast, was uncomfortably quiet, everyone following Claire's lead in being silent.

...

The hospital wasn't at all busy, but they waited for at least an hour. Connie grumbled about the staff being slow at the worst of times, and then went through all of the parenting magazines that were laid out on the table. Claire was, again, interested in the floor, and Bella could see her blue eyes overflowing with anxiety.

Finally, a nurse came to get them. Connie was the only one allowed past the doors with Bella, although Max refused to leave his sister's side. It took a lot of convincing to make him stay put.

As Bella was being put into a rickety wheelchair, Claire spoke for the first time since they'd gotten back from the park.

"Make sure you didn't break that leg too bad, now, okay?" she mumbled, almost incoherently. Bella nodded, trying to give her sister some form of comfort.

"As soon as they're done, I'm coming in there," Max insisted. "You come get me when you're done fixing Bella, okay, Mom?"

"Don't worry, Max," Connie said. "You can come see her when they're finished. I promise."

Bella was suddenly being wheeled toward the swinging ER doors. She looked back and gave her siblings a sad smile.

Claire looked up and nodded once before looking back down. Max followed them to the doors and then watched as they disappeared down the hall. The doors slowly swung shut, leaving him outside like a lost puppy.

...

Bella didn't even try to keep up with what was happening. Her leg felt like it was on fire, and the sooner the doctors fixed it, the better.

She learned that an orthopedic had been called to do the surgery, which was why the wait had taken so long. The nurses and doctors kept testing her leg, which did nothing to help ease the pain. They also kept asking Connie how, exactly, she'd broken her leg; Bella thought it was ridiculous that her mother repeat the story over and over again.

"It's so they know I didn't abuse you, dear," Connie explained. Bella thought this reason was even more ridiculous than the actual asking.

After a whirlwind of doctors, nurses, and X-rays, Bella was finally given some medicine to inhale. She slowly felt her eyelids start to droop, and didn't try to fight the sleep she knew was coming on. It would do her good to escape from all the craziness that she now called her life.

...

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part I**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_I'm in a boat, sailing on the sea. Nothing surrounds me except water. I would have been scared, but since it's a dream, I don't really feel scared. Instead, I feel bored, because there's nothing to do._

_After sailing for a long time (but in my dream it felt like only four seconds), I see something in the distance. It looks like an island. So I magically steer my boat over there, and after somehow surviving this wickedly harsh storm and keeping the boat and myself from sinking, I dock on the island – but it takes me, like, FOREVER to tie a knot, since I can't do that to save my life._

_So I eventually give up tying the stupid thing (but the boat stayed there, anyway – hey, it's a dream!). I turn around, and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go. And it's nighttime, too, so I'm pretty much freaking out. Then I see a fire coming from somewhere inland, and I follow where it leads._

_What I find is truly amazing. There are seven beasts standing in a clearing, destroying what look like upright bird nests. They all look fearful, yet cuddly at the same time. I find myself feeling the urge to help them in their merriment._

_I suddenly leap forward, and there I am, standing among them. They stop what they're doing and come forward. They search me over with their eyes and sniff me with their noses. Finally, one speaks._

_"She smells like human," it says._

_"She looks like the King," another puts in._

_"King?" I ask. "What King?"_

_The circle parts, and in steps a little boy in a dirty wolf suit with a golden crown sitting on his head._

_Max._

_"Oh, good, you're here," he says, but he sounds drunk (like everyone does when you're dreaming). "They were gonna eat me, but now they can eat you instead."_

_"What?" I stand there as the biggest one picks me up with its claws. I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel myself slide down its throat. I'm surprisingly not afraid._

_Suddenly, I feel as if I'm underwater. It sounds like I am, at least. I hear bubbles, and I feel like I'm floating. Slowly, I open my eyes. _

_Yes, I'm underwater now. The water is a brilliant blue. I want to stay here, even though I know I will drown if I don't surface soon._

_I hear a faint voice calling to me. "Bella, wake up," it says._

"_How?" I want to ask. I'm already awake, aren't I?_

"_Bella, wake up."_

_Something touches my arm. I jerk awake._

...

Bella blinked. Her vision was blurry, but she couldn't move her arms. After a few dozen blinks, everything came into focus.

She was in a hospital room, with her leg propped up and in a plaster covering. Her arms were hooked up to IVs, which explained why she couldn't move them. She still felt sleepy; part of her wanted to go back to sleep, and the other part wanted to stay awake, scared to start dreaming again.

"Bella?"

She turned her head slowly to her left. Sitting in a chair was Max. She felt relief wash over her as she realized that he wasn't in a wolf suit or wearing a crown.

"Hey, Max," she said. Her voice sounded miles away.

"Are you feeling better?"

She tried to nod. "Yeah…"

Max smiled. "That's good. I thought they'd never get done."

"How…how long did it take?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it took a long time. Mommy made me and Claire go to Daddy's because she wanted us to go to sleep."

"So…what time is it?" Bella asked.

"It's morning," Max offered. "You've been sleeping for a really long time."

"Oh."

Connie came into view. "Hi, sweetie." She kissed Bella on the forehead. "You just wake up?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Well, try to get some rest. We'll leave you alone."

Max looked up at Connie. "Do I have to?"

"She needs to sleep, honey. It's been a long night."

Max looked at the ground, and then at Bella. "Okay. Bye, Bella. I can come in as soon as you're done sleeping, right?"

Bella nodded. "Of course."

This seemed to make him happier, and she saw his smile returning as they left the room.

And although she willed herself to keep awake, Bella found herself slipping back to sleep.


	15. 13: Max's Temper Tantrum

_Hola! Agh, I'm countin' down the days til' I'm off for Christmas! Which not only means spending time with my family, eating crab legs and going shopping, it also means I can update! And I'm guessing I'll be getting to the movie part of the story (a.k.a. the part of the story that covers the plot of the movie)._

_P.S. Sorry if this is really angsty...I was kinda angsty today about something..._

...

Chapter Thirteen: Max's Temper Tantrum

Bella was able to go home the next day. Because her leg wasn't too badly broken, she only had to wear a cast for six weeks. She was required to use crutches for support, but Tori had happily offered to help her at school.

The cast wasn't exactly fun, but her classmates had all signed it. Everyone held doors open for her and asked her how she was doing. All of a sudden, everyone wanted to be her friend.

"How's your leg?" Gerry Anne would ask.

Bella would give her a funny look and say, "Well, aside from the pain, it's okay."

Gerry Anne would laugh. "Oh, Bells, you're soooo funny! I've always liked that about you."

Bella would nod and try to walk away quickly, but it was somewhat hard with her crutches. She found it creepy that her practically-arch-enemy was being nice to her.

Even Randy was experiencing strange behavior on the bus.

"Did it hurt when you fell on your leg?" he asked the first day she came back.

"No," Bella said with heavy sarcasm. "It felt so great to feel my leg shooting with agonizing pain."

"Did you cry?" he asked, ignoring what she'd just said.

"Not right away—"

"Whoa. You're pretty tough, Carson."

"Sure…" She turned away from him, shaking her head.

Her popularity faded after six weeks. As soon as her cast came off, everything toned down a bit, eventually going back to normal by the next week. Bella was relieved that Gerry Anne ignored her and Randy was back to cracking his usual dirty jokes.

The same happened with Claire. She was willing to help Bella while her leg was in the cast, but as soon as it was gone, so was her benevolent attitude. Unlike her classmates at school, Bella found that she would miss the kind side of her sister.

The kindness from her classmates and sister wasn't the only thing that disappeared with her broken leg. She quickly learned that it was also the force that had kept her parents from fighting for the longest time that she could remember. It started up shortly after the cast came off, and Bella found herself in Max's room for the rest of the spring and most of the summer, comforting him and trying to make him stop the flow of tears.

...

"Why won't they stop?" Max blubbered one night. "They said they would! They told me they would!"

"It's okay, Max," Bella said. "They're going to stop…"

"No, they're not!" Max got a gleam in his eye, one that was unfamiliar to her and didn't seem to fit his young age.

"Calm down, Max…"

"AAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" He wasn't Max now. She wasn't even sure what to classify him as. She could only sit as he trashed around the room, knocking into things and breaking others.

"You've gotta stop, Max—"

He stomped with a purpose, screaming at the top of his lungs. Angry tears were coming by the dozens, but he was too busy wrecking his room to notice.

"Max!"

He was making too much noise now. He picked up a baseball and hurled it across the room. It barely missed her head and went right to the wall, making a huge bang sound.

She was done with words. He wouldn't listen anymore. So she decided to fight fire with fire – sort of.

She had him on the ground, but he was thrashing against her. "LET GO OF ME!" he cried, trying to wriggle free.

Bella only made grunting sounds. She was determined to restrain him from breaking anything else.

The door flew open. "What's going on in here?" Connie asked.

Max went back to screaming. Bella let go, and off he went, thrashing even harder.

"MAX!"

He stopped, turning to Connie. His tears turned into wails, and he scrambled to her. She took him in her arms, where he fell apart.

"Bella, what happened?" Connie inquired.

She was speechless. Everything had been so sudden, she hadn't been able to keep track. "He just…went crazy."

Connie looked from her daughter to her son and back again. "Does this have anything to do with…"

"What do you think?"

Connie shook her head. "I'm sorry, you guys. This is all my fault." She sniffled, something she rarely did.

"Mom…don't cry." Bella knew things were bad when her mother started to cry.

"Mommy, stop," Max said, breaking away. "I don't want you to feel bad."

She sighed, wiping away tears that hadn't fallen yet. "Still…this isn't the way to handle things. Daddy and I…we're acting like toddlers."

_You can say that again…_Bella thought.

"Did Daddy and I make you do this?" Connie asked Max.

He didn't answer. "Yes," he finally said. "I was mad because I don't want you to fight anymore." He looked up at her. "I want us to live together again."

Bella knew where this was headed: more tears, hurt feelings, and everyone staying up until three in the morning. She turned away, not wanting to have Connie and Max see that she herself was starting to cry.

...

Nothing happened that night. Their dad left for the night, and Bella and Max were tucked in before ten. As she was saying goodnight to her mother, Bella suddenly remembered something she had wanted to ask her mother for the longest time.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?" Her mother looked tired and worried.

"It's not about what happened tonight," Bella said, and she saw that Connie slackened with relief.

"Oh. Then…what is it about?"

"Well, back in January, my teacher was talking about the sun. And she said that it's gonna eventually die. Once you and me and everyone else dies. But she put it in a way that was…well…"

"Not the friendliest?" Connie offered.

"Yeah."

"Well, she's right that it won't die for a very, very long time. So you don't have to worry about that."

Bella knew that, but still wasn't reassured. "I know…but…what if the world ends? Or something happens?"

"Bella," Connie said, "you can't think that way."

"It's hard."

"I know it gets hard, but what if everyone in the world went around being scared about that type of thing? No one would get anything done, would they?"

Bella had never thought of that. "No."

Connie kissed her on the forehead. "Just think happy thoughts, okay?" She smiled. "Love you, Bella."

"Love you, Mom."

"And…I'll talk to Daddy about…us fighting around you kids. It's not fair to you, and I know we were doing so well…but things happen."

_Well, duh, things happen._

"Just know that we're trying to get through this, okay?"

Bella nodded, too tired to think of much else.

...

That night, she dreamt that everything was okay with her family. Her mother and father weren't fighting, Claire was kind to everyone, and Max wasn't wild. And there she was, quiet and shy, not at all like she was in real life. But life was happier. The way she wanted it to be.

This was one dream she knew she didn't want to wake up from.

...

And when she did the next morning, she found that Max was on her bedroom floor, clutching his teddy bear tightly. Her fear of his temper tantrum slowly ebbed away as she climbed out of bed and sat beside him, watching him sleep until he woke up.


	16. 14: Sailors of the Sky

_Hola! Last chapter until we skip ahead a few years to when the movie takes place! (Although I'll have a few "setting up the scene" chapters before I actually get to the movie part...but just know that I'll get there in time for the holidays.)_

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Fourteen: Sailors of the Sky

Bella stared at her Capn' Crunch, slowly growing soggy in the bowl. She was in absolutely no mood to talk to anyone this morning, not even Max.

She glanced at Connie as she walked past. _Guess I was wrong when I thought that grownups never lie_, she thought, almost wishing that Connie could read her thoughts.

The night of Max's first real fit was nothing compared to what had happened the previous night. Bella's father had been at the house, and he and Connie started arguing about something stupid, she couldn't even remember what it was. Once again, the kids had been sent to bed early, and for once, she was glad that she was able to keep to herself. She plugged her headphones in, almost going deaf from trying to block out the voices and the banging, the latter coming from Max's room.

"Bella, eat your cereal," Connie instructed. "It'll get soggy."

"Maybe I want it to," Bella grumbled. "Maybe I like it like that. Just like you seem to like your _marriage_ soggy."

Connie stopped and stared at her middle child. "Bella, if this is about last night—"

"You promised me." She was surprised tears were welling up in her eyes. "You promised the three of us that you wouldn't fight when we were here."

"I know," Connie said. "You're right. I'm sorry you needed to hear what we said last night. It wasn't fair to you."

Bella went back to staring at the golden-yellow gunk that was now her cereal. "That's what you always say. You say you'll do one thing, but then you don't even do it. Don't even try to make it up. It won't work this time."

"Okay. If that's what you want…" Connie had that tone of voice that said, _We're gonna do something fun today. You sure you want to miss it?_

"It doesn't really matter what I want. You'll just do whatevery you want."

"So I take it you're going to stay home while I take Claire and Max to the apple orchard today?"

Bella fought to keep her excitement inside. The apple orchard was one of her favorite places to go, especially in the fall. It was the ideal family outing – even Claire remembered that she had younger siblings for a few hours.

"You're…going today?" she asked skeptically. "But it's Labor Day. We don't usually go until November."

"I figured that we should go early this year," Connie explained. "Before the crowd gets too big."

Bella narrowed her eyes. "You're not trying to bribe me, are you?"

"Where did you pick up a word like that?"

"Why are you ignoring my question?"

Connie sighed, taking the bowl of cereal. "Go grab a banana from the kitchen," she said. "And get ready. We're leaving in an hour."

...

The car ride was devoid of talking, as it always was. Connie had the radio on and was listening to a talk show; Claire and Bella both had their headphones in; and Max, exhausted from his tantrum the night before, was asleep.

"Girls?" Connie's voice was sudden, and made Bella jump. "Can I speak with you, please?"

"Aren't you doing that right now?" Claire asked.

"Don't get sassy with me, Claire," Connie said. "Take your headphones out."

Claire carefully removed hers and set them in her lap. Bella yanked hers out and flung them to her side.

"I'd like to talk to you about your father."

Bella stared out the window. She tried to focus on the trees and the huge houses that dotted the landscape.

"I know I keep saying that he and I aren't gonna fight in front of you three anymore…"

_Ooh, I like that house…if I ever grow up to be rich, I'm gonna live there…_

"…things come up, and it's hard to deal with them without disagreeing on something…"

_And that one can be my second house…_

"…want what's best for you…"

_Maybe I can build a barn and have some horses…_

"…it'll end soon, I promise…"

_I hate that word. Promise. It's just empty and hollow. It doesn't mean anything. _

"Bella!"

"What? What, Mom?"

"I said, are you okay?"

Was she really? At the moment, she just wanted everyone to disappear. She wanted to be by herself, her life simple and not burdened with family problems.

But she couldn't be selfish. Not at a time like this.

"I'm fine, Mom," she lied, going back to watching houses. "I'm fine."

...

The assembly line was up and running, and Bella considered it a good excuse as any to sneak away from her family. Much like house watching, she studied each apple carefully as the workers picked the good ones to put in baskets and let the bad ones fall into a bag.

_That one looks really good. Oh, wait. It's got a huge bruise. Never mind. Ooh, that one's gonna be picked for sure. But I'm not so sure about the one with the funny leaf—_

"This is what you call fun?"

Claire was leaning on the railing beside her. "Why do you care?" Bella asked, her eyes on the apples.

Claire got right to the point. "You weren't listening in the car, were you?"

Bella shook her head. "I've heard it all before. It's just a bunch of empty promises."

"You ever think that Mom's working her butt off to try to keep us together?" Her sister's tone of voice was serious. Bella had never heard her use it before, and it was a bit frightening.

"That's crazy, Claire—"

"If you'd been listening, you'd know that it's not. She's trying to get along with Dad, but it's hard, because they've still got taxes to pay, and Mom's job doesn't pay nearly enough—"

Bella didn't like it when anyone talked about not having enough money. She didn't want to think about what would happen if her family lost all their money and had nowhere to go.

"—and they want us to be happy. So I was right. They probably will get a divorce. It's the only way things can work, the way I see it."

"Shut up!" Bella snapped. "No one wants to hear what you think, Claire!"

Claire stepped back. "Well, excuse me for trying to explain things!" She huffed off, clearly angry.

"Good riddance," Bella mumbled, looking back to the assembly line in time to see it shut off and the workers carry the apples away.

...

"Who's picking apples back there?" screamed the tractor driver.

Bella smirked as the teenagers sat back down on the tractor, rolling their eyes at the driver.

"No picking apples off the trees while the tractor is in motion!" the driver barked. "It's against the rules!"

_Tell that to the idiots at the back, _Bella felt like calling. There was always someone on the tractor ride that didn't follow the rules, and that caused the driver to turn around periodically to make sure no one was trying anything funny. Unfortunately, it had gotten worse each year, so the driver now watched the passengers much more than he watched the road.

Which wasn't helping anything, considering they were right about to run into a tree—

The tractor bumped, and everyone flew into the air. Bella came down hard on her backside.

"Okay…ow," she said.

The driver began to swear under his breath, turning around. "This is why you kids shouldn't be allowed on this thing!" he shouted. "Make things worse…"

_Welcome to my world, dude._

...

Bella finished her apple turnover and stared moodily at the pond that was right next to the railroad tracks. The same idiots who had been on the tractor were now pushing each other, falling into the pond and laughing. Claire had gone to join them, finding them hilarious.

Bella turned away from them. She didn't need to be reminded of what her sister had told her earlier about their mother and how they were having trouble paying bills and taxes and how—

"Hi."

Max was sitting across from her, fiddling with a now empty candy apple stick. He wouldn't meet her gaze and stared at the ground.

"Hey."

"Did you hear what Mommy said in the car?"

"Yes," Bella fibbed. "Did you?"

"A little," Max said. "I was just waking up." She could tell that what Connie had said upset him.

"She's not mad at you," Bella said, not even trying to be comforting. "It's her problem, and it doesn't concern us."

Max looked at her. "What if they get a…D-Force?" He whispered the last word, as if he didn't want anyone to hear it.

"They're not gonna get a divorce, Max." Bella didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Everything's gonna be fine."

Max bent his stick. "I don't know…"

"Let's not talk about it anymore, okay?" Bella tried to smile. "We're here to have fun, remember?"

Max nodded, the hint of a smile on his face. "I guess."

Suddenly, the sun was blocked by a cloud. Or, she thought it was a cloud. But then came a peculiar sound, one that sounded like someone trying to blow up a balloon.

"What is that?" Max asked.

Bella looked up, and there, floating over the apple orchard, was a hot air balloon. It was huge, and she was awestruck by its size. People on the ground waved at the people in the basket. Some even took pictures.

Max's eyes were huge. "Is that a balloon?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah…" Bella said. "It's a hot air balloon. I didn't know they had rides here."

"They look like they're sailing!" Max said.

They stood for a moment, hypnotized. Then Max took off in a fast sprint.

"Let's follow it!" he called.

...

They came to an open field and found two more balloons prepping for flight. Other people had gathered to watch, admiring the balloons and jokingly complaining about how jealous they were of the people who got to ride in them.

"I wanna go on one!" Max said.

"I'll go ask Mom for some money," Bella told him. "These things probably don't cost too much…"

"I wouldn't be so sure," said a woman standing nearby.

Bella gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"You wanna go on one of these things?" the woman asked.

"Can we?" Bella asked, still confused.

"Yeah, can we?" Max's eyes were filled with excitement. "I want to go sailing in the sky!"

"Sorry, young man, but if you wanna ride one of these things, you gotta cough up some serious cash." She snapped a picture with her camera. "I'm still saving to do so myself, and I started about half a year ago."

"How much do they cost?" Bella asked, her heart sinking.

"Depends. They change the price all the time, but I'm guessing it's in the hundreds. So good luck finding money to ride in one."

Bella turned away and looked at Max. He looked up at her. "You don't think Mommy…"

Bella saw her mother across the field with Claire, watching the balloons. After all she'd learned today, Bella couldn't bring herself to even broach the subject of hot air balloon rides with her mother.

"Not today, Max," Bella replied. "Now's not a good time."

Max looked crushed. "Oh." He looked up as a balloon took off and the people around them cheered.

"Don't worry, Max," Bella said. "We'll ride in one of those balloons someday."

"Promise?"

She still hated that word, but couldn't find another way to put it.

"I promise, Max," she said, and they watched the balloon float away until it was out of sight.


	17. 15: Reverence vs Sarcasm

_Hello again! Geez, third chapter this week...I guess it helps that I don't have a lot of homework! WHOOO! Anyway, the opening scene in this chapter is based on the opening scene in the movie (when Max and the dog are running around), and I don't own the movie, obviously. Also, the part at the end of this chapter concerning the Swine Flu...please note that I don't find it a humorous subject. Someone actually wrote that sentence in an English class of mine once, and we all found it pretty funny. So...yeah._

_Enjoy!_

...

**FOUR YEARS AND A FEW MONTHS LATER...**

...

Chapter Fifteen: Reverence vs. Sarcasm

_Boom. Bang. Slam. Crash. _

_Stumpy's frantic bark rang through the house. Max growled, close on Stumpy's heels, fork in hand and clad in his wolf suit. The pounded down the stairs, the noise escalating as they went._

_"Max?" Bella looked up from reading. "Please tell me you're not—"_

_The duo was in the living room now. Bella leaped off the couch just as Stumpy flew onto the cushions, Max following. They bounced across and landed on the floor, continuing the epic chase._

_"Max, come on!" Bella was clearly not amused with this. "You know how Mom hates it when you chase the dog around the house!"_

_He wasn't listening, as usual. All he cared about was the exhilarating rush he got from this, his wild side unleashed for a few precious moments._

_Bella caught him, pinning him down on the couch. "SERIOUSLY." She looked him in the eye. "You have got to stop this, Max. You're going to break something."_

_The anger he radiated was prominent. "Why can't you let me do what I want?" He wiggled in her firm grasp, trying to break free._

_"What you want is total destruction," Bella said. "Things are different now."_

_He twisted free and resumed his chase. "ARRROOOOO!" he howled._

_"Max…" She stood in the living room, motionless. How had her brother gotten so out of control?_

_"Bella!" Max called. What could he possibly want?_

"_Isabella!" _

_Huh? Since when had he…_

...

"_Isabel!_"

Bella jerked out of her daydream and saw Senora Walden standing in front of her, arms folded and eyes disapproving. Bella got this look often – it told her that she was in trouble.

Again.

"_Lo siento, Senora,_" Bella mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"_Tu no puedes dormir en mi clase,_" Senora Walden trilled angrily. "_No es aceptable!_"

"_Yo se,_" Bella said. "I know." But she didn't know. She had no idea what her teacher was saying. But, then again, maybe that was a good thing.

The bell rang, and the students exited the classroom, some giggling at Bella's blunder. She grabbed her backpack and sadly trailed behind them.

"_Isabel…_"

Bella turned around, cringing mentally.

"_Nesecitamos hablar, por favor._"

Bella sighed, and walked over to her teacher's desk, defeated.

"Can you tell me why you're here?" Senora Walden asked in English.

"Because I sleep in class?"

"Yes. _Isabel_, I know you're an intelligent young lady. You were doing so well in this class when you started out. And now you're down to a C. _No es bien._"

"I know it's not," Bella said. "I try not to, I swear."

"Is everything okay?"

"What do you mean?"

Senora Walden gave her a pointed look. "What I mean, _Isabel_, is are you doing okay at home? I know your mother's been busy. Are you sure you're alright?"

Bella didn't appreciate it when people asked if she was alright. In truth, she wasn't. Her mother was too busy with work to spend time with her or her siblings; her father lived in the city and didn't call or visit as much as he used to; her sister was still as much of a witch as she'd been in her childhood; and her brother was growing restless, acting wilder and crazier each day.

But she didn't feel like sharing this information with the world. Instead, she gave everyone the shortened, abridged version.

"Everything's fine, _Senora_," Bella said.

"Well, one more instance like that in class, and I'm going to have to call your mother. You're grade is slipping pretty quickly."

Bella nodded.

"You're in tenth grade now. Time to grow up, you know?"

Bella nodded again and hastily left the room.

...

"She said, 'one more instance like that in class, and I'm going to have to call your mother'," Bella quoted. "And then she told me to 'grow up'. This is so lame!"

"She's always hated kids," Tori assured her. "It's not your fault."

"Whatever." Bella sighed. "My life is complicated enough without her telling me I'm close to flunking her class."

"Did something happen?" Tori asked.

"Yeah," Bella said spitefully. "My family happened."

...

School dragged slowly. Economics was torture, as it always was. Bella fought to keep awake today, but found it difficult. Her mind wandered to Max and his startling change in behavior.

Choir was better, but not by much. Bella was seated next to Rachel McEvans, who had a beautiful voice – and mad sure everyone knew it, too.

"I can't believe you're in _Women's _Choir," she said to Bella each day. "I mean, no offense, but you're not _good_."

"I'm aware of that, Rachel," Bella said, growing angry.

Rachel sighed dramatically. "I suppose we all can't be as talented as I am."

Bella fought the urge to push Rachel off her seat and into the piano, but knew it would result in detention, or worse, suspension. She kept her hands in fists the whole time.

English was Bella's favorite class. The teacher, Mr. Patterson, actually knew what he was doing, in her opinion. It also helped that she liked to write. She had started a journal for story ideas the past year, and was always jotting a knew idea in it.

"I'm going to give you a piece of paper," Mr. Patterson told the class. "On it is a tone word. When I say 'go', you're to write as much as you can on your paper using that tone."

Bella looked at her slip. It said _reverent_, which meant respectful and worshipful. Bella was hoping for a darker tone, like _melancholy _or _scornful_.

"Everyone ready? Go."

The students began to write. Bella knew she needed to first think about what to write before she started. But her pencil started to fly across the paper, anyway.

_**My family is the best family ever,**_it wrote.

_No, Bella…don't do that. _She couldn't do this now.

_**My mother works so hard to provide for us. I only wish I could give her something in return.**_

_Why are you dwelling on it? Talking about it won't solve anything._

_**My older sister is so wonderful. She's always helping out, and is the sweetest person anyone could ever meet.**_

_This is so dumb. Erase this and write something else. You still have time._

_**My younger brother is adorable. He's so well behaved and mature for his age.**_

_Stop. Stop now._

The pencil wouldn't hold still. Bella wrote furiously, almost making a hole in the paper.

_**I only wish everyone could know how great my family is. **_

"Stop," Mr. Patterson said.

Bella slammed her pencil down. She looked at her paper and groaned. She should have stopped when she had the chance.

"Who wants to read theirs out loud?" Mr. Patterson asked. No one dared raise a hand. He scoped the room, looking for the perfect target.

"Isabella?"

_Great._

"Um…I don't think it's very good…"

"You'll never know unless you read it," Gerry Anne's shrill voice said from across the room. Bella felt her hands clench into fists, much like they had earlier in choir.

"Okay, I'll read it." Bella took a deep breath and read her paragraph, trying to disguise the disgust that was prominent.

After she finished, Mr. Patterson nodded. "Excellent. Anyone want to guess what tone she was using?"

Surprisingly, some of the students started to guess.

"Wistful?"

"Whimsical?"

"Reverent?"

Bella nodded at the third, although she desperately wanted to say, "Sarcastic."

Mr. Patterson nodded. "Anyone else want to read?"

"Greg does!" Randy Hazrow pointed across the row to his buddy Greg."

"Yeah, Greggy!" the other jocks whooped. "He's got a really good one! It's hilarious!"

Greg shook his head. "Dudes, no way! It sucks!"

"I'll bet it's not that bad." Mr. Patterson took the paper and read the first sentence aloud. "'It was summer. School was finally over, and already two of my friends had died from the Swine Flu…'"

The class erupted in fits of laughter. Bella cracked a smile, the first, it seemed, in a long time.


	18. 16: Through the Years

_Man, I'm on a roll with this! It's kinda scaring me. (jk, jk) This chapter's got a lot going on, so sorry if it's choppy. _

_DISCLAIMER: Some of the aspects of this chapter (the character of Pamela, the character of Peter and his actions, the character of the man at Connie's work, the character of Gary and what Max does to him) are based off parts of the book _The Wild Things _by Dave Eggers. Which I don't own. Well, I own a copy, but I didn't write it. So I don't own the content._

...

Chapter Sixteen: Through the Years

"Bella! You have a letter in the mail!"

"Who's it from?" She took the envelope eagerly.

"Your father."

Bella quickly sat down at the dining room table and tore the letter open. She became momentarily frustrated, because she could never open an envelope properly. She always ended up ripping it to shreds.

Bella scanned the letter, pleased that her father was doing well at his job (whatever that was – no one would tell her what his occupation was). She was, however, concerned that he was still dating Pamela, some bleached blonde bimbo who threw herself all over her father in a sickening way.

He went on to ask how school was going, and if she was still hanging in there. Bella felt like telling him everything, but restrained herself not to do so. It would kill her to know that she was making things worse for her family.

Then again…she wasn't the one who'd gotten a divorce.

...

After her hot-air balloon promise to Max, the fighting began increasing rapidly. It reached an all-time high halfway through September, at which point their father packed the remainder of his things and declared he wasn't coming back. There was a lot of shouting and yelling, and a good portion of it was crying. She'd escaped and ran to Tori's that night, abandoning the broken remains of her family.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Tori said.

"Tori!" Bella sobbed. "He's leaving!"

"Maybe it won't be for a long time…"

"He told my mom he's not coming back."

Tori seemed to understand now. "Ever?"

"Ever."

Tori became quiet. "I'm so sorry, Bella." She put an arm around her best friend's shoulder.

...

Bella went back the next day to salvage what she could, planning to head back to Tori's as soon as possible. This was when Connie dropped the bomb and told Bella what was to happen.

"We're getting a divorce." She said it evenly, no hitch in her voice. She didn't seem pleased or angered. She was calm about it, doing the crossword in the newspaper as she said it.

Connie would get the house while their father was forced to find someplace else to live. Both felt that their children should be as far away from the divorce stress as possible, so Bella was allowed to stay at Tori's, Claire was going to stay with her friend Dana, and since Max was still very young, he would stay with their mother's parents.

...

"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING!"

"Max, it's okay!" Grandma Abby picked him up. "We're gonna have fun at our house, aren't we?"

"I CAN'T LEAVE!" He looked at Bella, his eyes flashing with fear. "BELLA, DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!"

"It won't be for long, Max," she mumbled. "We'll be back home soon enough."

"BUT I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE MOMMY AND DADDY! THEY CAN'T GET A DIVORCE!" Tears streaked down his face and he shuddered when he breathed.

Claire came down the stairs with a suitcase. "I don't know how Mom and Dad can go through this," she said hurriedly as she hugged Bella and Connie goodbye. She ran out the door and climbed into the back of a pick-up truck. It was gone before anyone could blink.

"Max, you'll have fun at Grandma and Grandpa's," Connie said. "They have all sorts of toys there, and you can watch TV—"

"Bella's coming with me, right?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm going to Tori's, Max. I…I need some time by myself. To think."

She didn't want to look at Max, because she was sure that what she'd just said was breaking his little heart. And the worst part about it was that her words were true.

"Time to go, Max," Grandpa George said. "Say goodbye."

"No! I don't wanna leave!" He reached out for Bella. "Bella, don't let them take me!"

She held his hand for a moment, looking into his sad, brown eyes. She felt torn; she could change her plans and tell Tori that she was staying with her grandparents, so Max wouldn't feel lonesome. But at the same time, she knew that going to Tori's was going to pay off in the long run. She needed time away from her family…her _entire _family.

Her grandparents were walking out the door now. Max began one of his tantrums, pounding his fists against the seat of their grandparents' old car and screaming to be let out. The car started up and backed out of the driveway. As it drove away, Max looked out the back window, looking at her, pleading in his silent way. Bella waved and looked at her shoes.

...

She spent almost two months at the Mikes' house. They treated her like she was their own, and even Tori's brothers were decent. Bella felt relieved to forget about her problems.

Connie checked in every day to make sure she was alright. Bella was at first reluctant to talk to her, but tried not to focus on her anger when she did talk to her mother. Deep down, she knew she missed Connie and her siblings, although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even herself.

...

After what seemed like eternity, Bella was finally able to come home. She learned that she and her siblings would primarily live with Connie, and they could see her father during the holidays and for a month and a half in the summertime. He had secured a house in the city, which was only about a half-hour drive away.

Her mother was completely changed after that. She looked happier than she had in months, years even. A month after the divorce was final, she started to date again. She picked the strangest people to date, too.

There had been Dave, the punk rocker; he had a billion tattoos and a nose ring. But he'd only lasted two weeks. His loud music woke up the three siblings at night, and Connie had deemed him a jerk, as well.

After him had been Chris, a seemingly normal person. He was there for a month before Connie realized that he was gay and had only been dating her to figure this out. Bella remembered her mother wasn't too happy about that.

Then came Peter, some random old guy. Bella was sure that he had been out of pure desperation. He gave Max a plant for a present, which the five-year-old promptly got rid of. After Connie broke it off at the two-month mark, he'd come by one night and started to sing under Connie's window, begging her to take him back. Everyone in the neighborhood had woken up at the sound, complaining to call the police. Connie forgave him and went out with him again, but only for a week.

There'd been a few months of no one, and everyone, save Connie, was thankful. Then Connie had started to go out with someone at work, even though she denied it. Claire had even started defending her. Bella hated it when Claire and Connie had secrets between them. It made her feel left out.

This one had lasted almost a year, but Connie found that he'd been cheating on her, and promptly broke it off. After that, she decided not to bring her dates home, so Bella had a hard time keeping track. However, after about three years of complete failure, her mother had secured a boyfriend.

His name was Gary, and he'd been around for over a year. He was a few years younger than Connie, and a complete bonehead. He tried to be "relatable" to Bella and her siblings, but it only made him sound stupid. He was also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and a thoroughly gullible person. In short, it was like having another kid around the house.

Connie hadn't come out right away and told them she was dating Gary. She claimed he was "just a friend" of hers. She'd told the truth to Claire first, then to Bella. But she'd delayed telling Max for the longest time. Bella didn't understand why. Connie had started to date Gary when Max was about eight. That was a reasonable age to distinguish a friend from a boyfriend.

However, in Connie's book, Max was still a baby, and his brain couldn't process this information properly. Bella got so sick and tired of her mother playing this game, that she came out and said exactly what she was thinking one night at dinner.

...

"Bella, sweetie." Connie stopped by her daughter's chair as she cleared the table. "Is something wrong?"

Bella glared up at her mother. She couldn't take it anymore.

"When are you gonna stop pretending?"

Connie looked surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this whole Gary business, Mom," Bella stated, as if it were obvious. "Aren't you gonna tell Max what it's really about?"

Max looked from Connie to Bella, sensing something was wrong. "What's she talking about?"

"Nothing, Max," Connie insisted, glaring at Bella.

"Yeah," Claire mocked. "Bella's just having one of her mood swings."

"I am not! I hate having to keep quiet about what goes on in your life, Mom, just because you think Max isn't old enough to deal with it! Well, news flash! He's almost eight! That's old enough to know about how you and Gary are dating!"

When Bella said the last sentence, Max's eyes went wide as he continued to look back and forth. "She's…what?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Oh, this got so much better…" Claire said to herself.

"Isabella Kaye!" Connie was angry now.

"When were you gonna tell him, Mom? Seriously? When he's my age? When you've already gotten married to him?"

"That's enough out of you, young lady!"

"He's not a little kid anymore! You told me and Claire about it—"

"Because I knew you could handle it! Now go to your room and stay there for the rest of the night!"

...

Max hated Gary the moment they met. Max sided with Bella on the fact that he was a moron, and went to extra lengths to give Gary a hard time when he was over. He'd hide the coffee and other things Gary needed when he stayed at their house, and Gary still hadn't picked up that Max was the culprit.

Needless to say, Bella's life wasn't going how she'd planned it to. Everyone in her life was changing: her mother, her father, Claire, Max, even Tori, who'd started to date a self-proclaimed "bad boy". Bella began to spend more and more time by herself, trying not to face her problems head-on.

She would soon learn, however, that this tactic was going to backfire.


	19. 17: A Lucky Omen

_Hey all! Three days left until my holiday break! (And two more quizzes...yuck!) But I'm happy, anyway, cause I'm probably gonna have tons of time to update (under the circumstances that I'm not doing anything fun...LOL!) _

_This chapter's kind of an oddball...it explores the girly side of Bella (something I wasn't originally planning...but it just kinda came out that way). I think the next one's gonna be from Max's POV (which means RESEARCH!), and I'll have it on as soon as I can._

_Happy Holidays!_

...

Chapter Seventeen: A Lucky Omen

"All right, everyone. Do you see a parabola?"

Bella unfolded her patty paper. This was the sixth time she'd tried this, and she still couldn't see a parabola. All she saw were a bunch of creases. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that about half the class was in the same boat as she was.

_Whatever…I was never artistic, anyway…_

Her math teacher, Ms. Anderson, had told them the previous week that they'd be entering into the hardest chapter of Trigonometry today – and Bella could now see that she'd been right. She couldn't believe her mother had made her take something as difficult as this.

Then again, Bella couldn't think of one time her mother had let her do something _she _wanted to do. All her life, it seemed like her parents had control over what she did, and she never got to do anything fun.

She knew it sounded selfish, and that it wasn't entirely true, but as of late, it applied to her life perfectly.

Bella shook herself out of her thoughts and tried to pay attention as Ms. Anderson droned on and on about how important parabolas were and how to find a parabola's focus, directrix, and other things. Bella wrote the notes down but didn't really absorb any of the information. Trig was her last class of the day, and she usually tuned out right about—

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Everyone groaned as the fire alarm continued to screech in the hallway. The school's alarm system was malfunctioning, and because of this, the students experienced at least three fire drills each week. The school refused to have it fixed, and why they did this was beyond Bella's thinking.

"Do we have to go outside?" someone complained.

"Not unless they tell us to," Ms. Anderson said.

"Attention!" came the voice of the principal. "This is a fire drill. Everyone is to proceed outside immediately."

A louder groan sounded through the students. Bella grabbed her coat and followed her teacher outside.

...

Everyone huddled together on the sidewalk, trying to keep warm. Bella felt especially sorry for the kids who'd been in gym class; they looked extremely uncomfortable in their t-shirts and shorts.

"This is so dumb," Bella muttered to herself.

"You can say that again," said a boy behind her.

Bella turned around and forgot to breathe for a second. Behind her was Nick Hunter, a tall lanky boy with brown hair who was in Claire's choir (a.k.a. the "talented" choir). He was a junior – a year older than Bella – and completely off-limits to someone like her (not that she wanted a boyfriend, anyway).

It didn't mean, however, that she couldn't get tongue-tied around him.

"Um…oh…" she said, feeling her face grow warm despite the cold.

"You're Claire's little sister, right?"

Bella tried to form words, but no sound came. _Come on, Bella, do something! _She started to nod, her mouth still open.

"Claire talks about you sometimes," Nick said. "Um…yeah." He looked away, and Bella instantly knew that Claire hadn't been exactly nice when discussing her home life.

"She's no picnic, either," Bella blurted. She immediately wished she'd never said that. What if Claire had said that she was a brat? Simply stating something like Claire wasn't all peaches and cream would come off as a brat tendency, she was sure.

Nick started to laugh. "I know," he said. "Mr. Henderson has to keep telling her to turn off her cell phone. It's practically glued to her hands."

Bella emitted her loud laugh, and many people near them turned to look. She looked at her feet. "Weirdo," she heard Rachel say.

"Hey, it's alright," Nick said. "I think your laugh's kinda cute."

Bella looked up. She couldn't talk again, only smile, and she was sure she looked completely ridiculous.

The bell rang, signaling for everyone to go inside.

"So I'll see you around, right?" Nick asked.

"Huh?" she asked dumbly.

"You're in Women's, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we're having auditions for show choir to anyone who's interested. You thinking about trying out?"

"Show choir?"

"Yeah. It was Mr. Henderson's idea. Didn't Claire tell you about it?"

Knowing Claire, she would have withheld this information from Bella because she was convinced that her younger sister could not sing and, therefore, wouldn't make it into show choir. Bella was determined to prove her wrong.

"No, she failed to tell me that," Bella said, surprised she was able to say a full sentence. "But I'll think about it, I guess."

"Cool." Nick smiled. "See ya." He walked away, hands in his pockets.

Bella stood numbly on the curb. "See ya," she said, and quickly hurried in when she saw that everyone else was gone.

...

Bella was relieved when the final bell rang. She rushed out of the classroom, trying to beat the huge rush of students. Being in a huge high school with a ton of kids was never fun. Both stairwells were congested every day when school got out, and it took her forever to get to the bottom and walk all the way to the other end of the building to her locker.

As she was walking through the commons, she spotted Claire talking with some of her idiot friends. Bella decided to ask her about show choir, since she'd neglected to tell her about it.

"Hey, Claire," she said, walking toward where the group of older teens were hanging out. The people around Claire started to snicker. Claire simply rolled her eyes.

"And you're talking to me because…?"

"We're related, remember?" Bella hated it when Claire played this game with her.

"Do we have to go over this again?" Claire wore a cold smile on her face. "I'm a senior, you're a sophomore. We don't associate. _Ever_."

The subject of show choir fled from her mind. Bella frowned, even though it was practically invisible through her thick brown bangs. "Why do you have to be so mean?" was all she could manage to say.

Claire's friends laughed even louder. "What are you, five?" Claire tossed her head as she turned her back to Bella.

"No, but I think someone else is," Bella muttered angrily as she walked away. Her older sister had never, unfortunately, grown out of her unkind ways, although Bella had secretly hoped she would.

Her pocket vibrated, and Bella took out her phone.

**FunnyGrl297: Where r u?**

Leave it to her best friend to save the day.

Bella sighed as she sent a text back to Tori.

**IzzyB13: I just got done talking to the Wicked Witch of West 4****th**** St. Where do you think I am?**

**FunnyGrl297: Hrry up! I have fbulus nws! **

Knowing Tori, she guessed it had to do something with either boys or her hair. This was the perfect opportunity to tell her about her encounter with Nick. Bella quickly made her way to her locker and saw Tori waiting there.

"Oh. My. God. Guess what?" She bounced up and down, her jet-black hair moving as she did.

"You got a haircut?" Bella supplied, trying to sound excited.

"Well, yes, I did, actually," Tori said, fingering her glossy locks. "But that's not it! Guess who's going on a date with Joey on Friday?" She started squealing and bouncing, both at once.

Bella's heart sank as she received this news. "Seriously? I thought you two broke it off a week ago."

"We did…but then Joey called, and one thing led to another, and…" Tori seemed too happy for words to continue.

Bella didn't know what to say. She had a very strong opinion on her best friend's love life, especially when it came to her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Joey Gregson, who was known as a two-timing heartbreaker. However, she knew her friend's feelings were more important than anything she had to say about the relationship, so she kept her mouth shut.

"I'm happy for you," Bella fibbed, twirling the combination lock on her locker. "I really am, Tori."

"Oh, I knew you would! That's why I'm glad you're my friend. Everyone else would say forget about it. But not you. You support me, no matter what. That shows true friendship."

"Thanks…" Bella pretended to search for something in her locker, guilt eating at her insides.

"So, I saw you and Nick talking to each other today…" A sly smile crossed her face.

Bella tried not to blush. "Yeah…so?"

"So? You've been crushing on him since ninth grade! And he finally talked to you!"

"Tori, I don't like boys…and boys don't like me." She slammed her locker door shut and faced her. "He only knows who I am because of Claire."

"It's a start." Tori put on a fake pout. "A lucky omen!"

"Only in your dreams, Tori," Bella said.

"Are you doing anything after school?" Tori began texting someone on her keyboard phone, her fingers moving swiftly up and down the keys.

"Yep. My mom wants me and Claire out by the car pool line as soon as possible," Bella answered, walking beside Tori. "We're picking up Max at his after school daycare thing. It's some new deal that we'll be doing for the rest of the year."

"Max?" Tori said the word as if she were trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth. "You mean your bugger of a brother who's out of control?"

"I wouldn't say that," Bella defended. "He's just going through a difficult time in his life."

"You mean he started puberty early?"

"No." Bella gave Tori a funny look. "I have no idea what's going on in his head. He just seems troubled, is all." She paused. "I kinda missed how it used to be."

"Ugh, it sucks that you have to pick him up!" Tori said, returning to the topic. "Tell your mom that you can come home with me on the bus and hang out for a while, and then you could walk home after. I mean, we only live four blocks away from each other."

"Thanks…but…my mom doesn't like me going over to friends' houses on school nights," Bella said, swimming for an excuse that wasn't entirely a lie. "She says it does no good for my grades."

"Well, whatever! We're gonna convince her that you should come over."

"It's gonna take a lot of convincing," Bella said as they pushed open the doors of the school.

"Hello! I'm taking debate this semester. I knew it'd come in handy sooner or later."

A horn honked, and the girls turned to see a sleek black SUV in the front of the car pool line.

"That's my mom." Bella gave Tori a quick hug. "See you later."

"I'll text you!" Tori called after her friend as Bella hopped into the SUV.


	20. 18: Rocky Relationships

Chapter Eighteen: Rocky Relationships

"So…how was school?" Connie, asked in the car.

"Sucked," Claire mumbled, playing with her Sidekick.

"You know I hate that word," Connie said sternly.

"Whatever."

"How about you, Bella?" Connie looked in the rearview mirror at her other daughter.

"It's school, Mom." Bella tore her gaze away from the window. "Nothing happens at school except homework. And how exciting is that?"

"I'm just curious," Connie said. "The three of you never talk about what goes on there."

"Well, if it helps, we started the hardest chapter in Trig today."

Claire snorted from the front seat and plugged her headphones into her ears. Bella ignored her.

"And what would that be?" Connie asked.

"Parabolas, circles, ellipses…that type of thing. And it's HARD."

"Sounds interesting."

Bella couldn't believe her ears. "I just said it was hard, Mom. Not interesting."

"Can't it be hard _and _interesting?"

"No."

Connie shrugged. "Okay, if you say so."

Bella folded her arms. "I still can't believe that you made me sign up for that class. You know I've never been good at math."

"By taking challenging classes, you learn, sweetie."

"You won't be saying that when I flunk out."

"You won't flunk out."

Bella sighed. Sometimes her mother could be completely clueless.

Connie turned to Claire. "Claire, when are those auditions for show choir?"

"Tomorrow," she said.

"Oh, that's right," Bella piped up from the backseat. "There's auditions for show choir! Guess who didn't tell me about that, Mom?"

Connie was silent. Claire turned and gave a nasty look to Bella.

"Maybe I didn't tell you because I knew you'd get like this," Claire said.

"No, you didn't tell me because you know I'm a lousy singer. And you didn't want me ruining your precious show choir."

"Girls, please," Connie said. "Can't you just try to get along for once?"

"Uh, no," they said in unison.

Connie shook her head. "Why can't you both try out for show choir?"

"Because she's my little sister!" Claire complained. "I don't want her tagging along everywhere I go!"

"And you also think I can't sing," Bella added.

"Would you let that go?" Claire snapped. "I could care less if you can sing or not!"

"I said, knock it off!" Connie shouted.

The two siblings fell silent.

"Okay, it's not the crime of the century if Bella—"

"Why are you taking her side?" Claire asked. "That's so not fair!"

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Connie said. "All I said was—"

"Yeah, she's not taking a side, Claire," Bella said smugly. "So shut up!"

"BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET!" Connie yelled.

Silence engulfed the car a second time.

"You can both try out for show choir. There's no law against it."

"But—" Claire began.

"End of story," Connie said firmly.

...

Max didn't like his after school daycare. Most of the kids there were younger than him, and he couldn't tolerate little kid things for very long. Instead, he sat at one of the low tables, trying to concentrate on his homework – something that greatly scared him (since he usually blew off his homework until the last minute).

As he was trying to figure out how many bananas five monkeys could each have if there were 35 bananas in all, he felt a tug at his sleeve.

"Max! Come on and play!"

This was Gabbie, one of the more annoying children. Max had no idea why she was compelled to ask him to play – it was very clear that he didn't want to do so. Bella had suggested that Gabbie had a crush on Max, but he thought that it was a ridiculous idea. Besides, Gabbie was only six. She didn't know what a "crush" was.

"Not now, Gabbie. I'm busy."

"Please?" She tugged harder on his sleeve.

"I'll play tomorrow," Max said, knowing it was an empty promise. "I'd like to get this done. Please go away."

"PLEASE, Max!" Gabbie was persistent, clasping onto his arm and trying to drag him away.

"Let go of me!" Max jerked his arm out of her hold, causing her to fall.

_Oh, no…_Max thought. Along with being one of the most aggravating human beings he'd ever met, Gabbie was also the most prone to crying fits. He prayed silently that she wouldn't start one now.

"Gabbie, please don't…"

It was too late. Her wails were high-pitched, and they probably would have broken some windows if the person in charge, a recent college grad named Betsy, hadn't intervened.

"Gabbie, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"Max pushed me!"

"I did not!" Max protested. "She was bugging me and I told her to go away."

"Did you get hurt?" Betsy asked, completely ignoring Max.

Gabbie sniffled and nodded.

"Come on, we'll go get some animal crackers," Betsy said. She turned to Max. "I'd like to have a word with you when your mother gets here."

...

Max sat in one of the free chairs in Betsy's office. Next to him were Connie and Bella (Claire had volunteered to stay in the car), and behind the desk was Betsy.

"Mrs. Carson," she said. "This is the seventh time this month that Max has caused a disturbance in the delicate balance of my after school class."

_Delicate balance…what a bunch of baloney! Please tell me Mom's not buying this…_

"What did he do?" Connie asked.

"Well, today he pushed down one of the other children—"

"I pulled my arm away! I didn't push her! She was annoying me and wouldn't stop!"

"Not according to Gabbie," Betsy said.

"Gabbie's always making stuff up! I would never push anyone over!"

"He's right," Bella said quietly. "Pushing someone over doesn't sound like him at all."

_Thank God for Bella. _Even if she was starting to distance herself from the rest of the family, Max knew he could count on her.

"Betsy, I'm terribly sorry if Max did anything wrong. He's usually not like this," Connie said.

"One more instance, and he'll be suspended for a month," Betsy said. "This disruptive behavior cannot continue as long as I'm around."

"I understand. Thank you." Connie got up, and Bella and Max followed to the car.

...

"Max, what's gotten into you?" Connie asked on the drive home.

"I don't know," Max answered honestly.

"Mom, he's too old for that daycare," Bella said. "Can't you move him to an older center?"

"For your information, Iz," Claire said, "Mom can't afford it at the moment."

"Claire, please," Connie cautioned. "I can handle this." She sighed. "Bella, we don't have the money right now to switch Max out, okay? It'll happen. Just not in the near future."

Max stared out the window, off in his own world. He wanted today to end so that it could forever be in the past and never come back into his memory.

...

In Max's room was a globe, one of the really nice ones you could get at a consignment shop. On the nameplate it said, _To Max: The Owner of the World. Love, Dad. _He'd received it for his eighth birthday, the last one with both of his parents.

Max stared at it now, wondering how one could be an "owner of the world". Did you simply have to own a globe? Or did you have to rise to power and be a monarch? All this thinking made him confused.

He heard singing coming from the room next door. It was Bella, practicing for some choir she and Claire were going to be in. Claire, of course, thought Bella couldn't sing, and therefore didn't believe she'd make it in. And knowing Bella, Max guessed that his sister was going to try her hardest to show Claire up.

He spun the globe once, watching the countries blur into one, then slowly separate out. He did it again, loving how each unique shape blended and then came apart.

Bella was suddenly in the doorway. "Hey," she said.

Max turned. "Hey."

"Um…I was just wondering if…"

_It's about that dumb singing thing, isn't it? _Max himself didn't really like to sing, unless it was for the purpose of annoyance. But his sister needed his support, and he was going to give it to her. It was the least he could do after she'd stood up for him that day.

"…would that be okay?"

Max looked at her blankly. "Huh?"

"Would it be okay if I sang a little bit?" she repeated.

Max nodded. "Okay."

A blush crawled up her face. "I don't know why I'm so nervous…I'm usually not when I sing at home. But I guess now that I have to try out, and I probably won't make it—"

"You don't know that," Max said. _Why doesn't she just get it over with?_

"Okay." Bella took a deep breath and began to sing on "ah". The minute she started, Max knew what she was singing. He tried not to cover his ears. It was the dreaded Love Theme, something Bella sang all the time.

_What's so special about that stupid song? Sure, it's soothing…and kinda nice…but totally stupid! Ugh! Stop singing! Why don't you stop singing…_

Max had heard it so much, he'd grown accustomed to it. But now that Bella was singing in front of him and not behind the wall, it sounded…almost pretty.

When she was done, she looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"It's nice, Bella," he said honestly. "I liked it." _Now please get out so I can be by myself._

"You really think so?"

Max nodded. "Yeah." _Why won't she leave?_

"Thanks, Max," Bella said, walking over to him and hugging him. "That means so much."

Max sat for a moment, completely disgusted. Why did girls have to be so emotional? It didn't make any sense to him.

But soon he found his own arms coming around his sister, and that he really needed a hug after the day he'd had. And after Bella had gone to sing for Connie, Max found himself wishing that she'd never left.


	21. 19: Grounded

_Here's another chapter! Happy Holidays! =)_

...

Chapter Nineteen: Grounded

ISABELLA CARSON

VARSITY CHOIR

SOPRANO II

That image would be etched into her head for the rest of her life. Even as she sat in the choir room for her first day of show choir, she still couldn't – no, _refused_ – to believe that she had made it into the "good" show choir.

After auditions, Mr. Henderson, the choir director, had announced that since so many people had tried out for show choir, he was splitting it into two groups – a Women's and a Varsity (both men and women). According to most of the student body, the Varsity was supposed to be the better of the two, with Women's being for anyone who wasn't talented to get into the former.

Claire was already sitting in the front row, talking with Rachel and a few others Bella recognized from Claire's choir. They all watched her sit near the back, giggling as they went back to their conversation.

_Typical Claire-and-posse response_, Bella told herself as she took out a book. _Can't let it get to you._

"Hey you!"

Bella looked up to see a tall girl standing right by her chair. The girl had her arms folded and was frowning.

"What?" Bella asked.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're new to singing, right?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm…I'm in Women's Choir."

"Oh. Well, I'd suggest you put that book away." the girl said, "The serious singers don't read when they're in here. Unless, of course, you won't mind if everyone who walks in here thinks you're a freak."

"Too late," Bella sighed, casting a glance to where her sister sat. "My sister's already taken care of that."

"You're Bella?" The girl seemed astonished. "You're a lot nicer than Claire says you are."

Bella nodded. "So I've been told." She made a mental note to get Claire back later.

"My name's Tiana," the girl said.

Bella waved. "It's very nice to meet you."

Tiana peered at her quizzically. "You don't wanna be here, do you?"

Bella shifted uncomfortably. "What makes you say that?"

"You're not making eye contact," Tiana stated simply. "Dead giveaway. So why is it that you don't wanna be here?"

"It's not that I _don't_ wanna be here," Bella explained. "It's that I _shouldn't_ be here. I can't sing; it's a proven fact. During tryouts, I sounded horrible. And I didn't know that show choirs had to dance."

"That's why it's called show choir," Tiana said, clearly unimpressed.

"I wasn't thinking at the time. Anyway, I can't dance to save my life, and I screwed that up, too. Yet somehow here I am."

Tiana sat down next to her. "Mr. Henderson must think you're worth something. Either that, or he's getting sick and tired of Rachel and Claire and their mansion-sized egos and decided to put someone pleasant in his choir."

Bella shrugged. "I'll ask him once we're done."

Tiana looked nervous. "I don't think that's—"

"Oh, no." Bella saw Nick enter the room and quickly put her book in front of her face.

"What? It's just Nick." Tiana waved. "Yo Nick!"

Nick waved back and came over. "Hey, Tiana. Who's your friend?"

"This is Bella." Tiana removed the book from her face.

"Oh, hey," Nick said, his smile growing. "I forgot to say that I loved your face at tryouts."

Bella felt her face reddening. "Oh, yeah…you taught us the dance…" she said stupidly. "And…then you watched…"

Nick laughed. "Well, let me just say that you were so hilarious. You looked so determined when you were dancing." He imitated the way she'd looked. "I swear, I was laughing for two hours after auditions were over."

Bella noticed Tiana getting a sly smile on her face. She wasn't sure if she liked it.

"Hey, we'll talk afterward, okay?" He went to sit in the front row. "See ya, T."

"See ya," she said, still smiling.

...

Bella stayed afterward to talk to Mr. Henderson. He wasn't very tall, but he had an air about him that made him seem bigger and tougher than he was.

"I was just wondering why you put me in choir," Bella said.

He was shifting through papers at his desk and didn't look up.

"Um, I think you made a mistake."

"I never make mistakes," he said. "Not when it comes to my students."

"But I can't sing. And I can't dance. It doesn't add up to where I am right now."

"And where would that be?"

"I'm in regular Women's Choir and Varsity show choir. But I don't think I should be there."

Mr. Henderson looked up for the first time. "Are you saying I should switch you out?"

Bella nodded. "I guess that's what I'm trying to say."

Mr. Henderson sighed. "Look, Miss Carson. I wasn't lying when I say I never make mistakes about my students. And I most definitely haven't made a mistake with you. You're exactly where you're supposed to be."

"But I—"

"Let me finish," Mr. Henderson interrupted. "I've heard you sing solo before. And I believe you have untapped talent, my dear."

"You do?" Bella blinked, unable to believe that he'd said that.

"Yes, I do. So I hope that answers your question."

Bella nodded, unsure of what to say. "Yeah. I'll…just go now."

"See you tomorrow," he called as she shut the door.

...

Claire was giving her the cold shoulder. It was normal for her species to do so when they were extremely angry.

"I'm glad that both of you made it," Connie said at the dinner table that night.

"Thanks, Mom," Bella offered, annoyed that Claire was acting stupid.

"Subject change," Claire muttered.

"Oh, Claire, be a good sport," Connie said.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Connie turned to her youngest. "Max, how was school today?"

Max played with his food, spellbound by his mashed potatoes.

"Max?"

He looked up. "Oh. Yeah. It was fine."

"Anything interesting at all?"

"No."

Connie looked worried, but ploughed on. "How was daycare?"

Max's grip tightened on his fork. "Decent," he finally got out, although it was clear that his experience had been anything but.

"That's nice," she said, distracted. She cleared her throat and said, "Are any of you doing anything on Friday?"

"Dana's house. Duh," Claire said.

"I'm not doing anything," Bella said. "Why?"

"Gary's coming over for dinner."

Bella's shoulders went slack. Claire rolled her peas around the plate. Max looked as if he were about to stab somebody.

"Be nice," Connie warned them. "He makes an effort to be nice to you kids…"

"More like he _is _a kid," Bella mumbled.

Connie gave her a look. "Bella. Not now."

"You know it's true, Mom."

Connie got up from the table. "Bella. Kitchen. _Now._"

Bella followed her mother into the kitchen, her arms folded.

"What have I told you about opening your mouth about Gary?"

Bella looked at the floor. She wasn't going to answer.

"I've told you a thousand times not to say anything. It's rude and demeaning."

"So I don't like the guy. Big deal."

"It _is _a big deal if you keep making it into one." Connie shook her head. "I honestly don't know what to do with you, Bella, I really don't."

_Like I haven't heard that one before…_

"Sorry if I'm such a hassle to be around, Mom," Bella said sarcastically.

"That's not what I said—"

"Excuse me for ruining your wonderful life."

"Isabella, don't get smart with me—"

"Because it's obvious that Gary's more important than your own daughter."

"_Isabella Kaye._"

Bella stopped, pursing her lips to prevent any more of her thoughts from escaping through her mouth.

"This behavior is obviously not going to go away, so until you can rejoin us like a normal human being, you're grounded.

Bella looked at the ceiling, not really caring. "How long this time?"

"The weekend."

Bella looked at her mother. "I have no plans, anyway," she pointed out.

"Well, then, it works out." Her mother brushed past her and went back to the dining room.

...

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part II**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_Well, there I am again, in the middle of all those…monster things. And there's Max, in his wolf suit and crown. But instead of ordering me to be devoured like last time, he narrows his eyes._

_"What are you doing here?" he asks._

_"I have no idea," I admit._

_"You shouldn't be here. We don't want you here, do we?" He turns to the creatures for solace, but gets none because they're all busy sniffing me._

_"She smells funny," says one with a horn on its nose._

_"She looks funny, too," says another that looks like a goat._

_"How do you know her?" asks the largest, one with a striped body and horns on its head. _

_"She's my vampire sister," Max says disgustedly. "And she hates me."_

...

Later that night, when she'd awoken from her crazy dream, Bella lay awake in bed. She let out a frustrated sigh and let angry tears roll onto her bedspread. She was used to being punished for running her mouth, especially since the groundings had been more frequent as her feelings continued to spin out of control. She didn't know why she was so upset about this one time; it was just like all the other times she had spent – and would spend – in her room on the weekends.

The door opened, and hall lights spilled into the room. "Bella?" came Max's voice.

Bella sat up. "What? What happened, Max?"

"I had a bad dream," he said.

"Oh." She allowed him to climb onto the bed. He laid his head against her shoulder, hugging his teddy bear.

"You got eaten by a monster," Max said. "And I was there, and I was scared and I didn't do anything. But I tried. I really did."

"I'm sure you did," she said, rubbing his shoulder.

He looked up at her. "Bella…you're not going anywhere…are you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not, Max. I'm right here. It's okay."

"Can I sleep in here?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead."

He lay down and pulled the covers up to his nose. "Can you sing?"

"Um…sure…" Bella had no idea why he was asking her this. She knew for a fact that he wasn't too fond of singing.

"It'll help me sleep," he said.

Bella nodded again, and began to quietly hum the Love Theme. Before she knew it, Max was fast asleep. She tried to fall back asleep, but didn't do so until much later. She was still plagued with thoughts about her punishment.

Usually she wasn't sorry about what she'd said when she got grounded. But this time she had a sickening feeling that this time had been a huge mistake.


	22. 20: The Snow Day Igloo

_Hey! I finally made it to the movie plot! *crowd cheers* It took me two months, but I finally did it! I would've been there sooner, but you guys motivated me to extend this story out, and I'm honestly astonished by the support I'm receiving! Thanks everyone!_

_Enjoy and Happy Holidays! _

...

Chapter Twenty: The Snow Day Igloo

Tuesday and Wednesday blended into one: school, then home, then school, then home again. Bella figured that it didn't matter anymore considering she was grounded for the whole weekend.

Thursday, however, would be the real start of the conflict.

It had snowed the night before, and it was everywhere; in people's yards, in the streets, some had even fallen in a few chimneys. They'd gotten over a foot, so school was closed, and the younger kids in the neighborhood were already outside making the most of the snow day.

Bella hated it.

Because of school being cancelled, today counted as a "weekend" day in Connie's book. Bella was to stay in the house and do her homework, and under no circumstances was she to go outside. She tried to act like she didn't care, but inside she desperately wanted to go out.

She sat at the window seat, the afternoon sun lighting her room. She was stuck on another Trig problem, and tried to stay focused. But it was hard. She would much rather observe what was going on outside.

Since Claire had watched movies all morning and had made plans with her friends for the afternoon, that left Max to entertain himself however he wanted. Today he had decided to build an igloo. Bella had watched him work diligently the whole day, and she found herself wishing she could go and help with the construction.

In fact, she could go and build an igloo herself, with Max's help. Then they could have a huge snowball fight, and do all the fun things they used to when they were younger—

Bella stopped herself. She needed to focus on something else. Claire would be up to check on her any minute now, ready to bust her for not finishing her homework.

_I wish Max had someone to play with, _Bella thought to herself. _Claire's obviously not gonna do it. _She pushed the idea out of her head, going back to her impossible math problems.

...

Max stepped back and looked at his masterpiece. It was truly an amazing fort, and he felt proud to call it his. If only his sisters could see it…

He ran to the kitchen window. Inside, Claire sat talking on the phone.

"Claire!" he shouted. "The snow plough left a huge pile of snow across the street!"

Claire didn't acknowledge him.

"Claire! I made a fort! You gotta come see it!"

"Max, not now. I'm on the phone," she said impatiently. "Go play with your friends."

Max didn't have any friends who lived in his neighborhood. And he couldn't bike over to the ones who lived close, not in this weather. He knew he'd been defeated.

He unhappily looked up at the second-level windows of the house and saw Bella looking at him. She'd been watching him the whole day, and now was the time to summon her out of her homework stupor.

"Bella! Open your window!"

Bella pulled up the window locks and pushed it open. "What, Max?" she called down.

"You wanna come see my fort?" He pointed across the street. "The snow plough left it last night! Isn't it amazing?"

"Sure is." He could tell that Bella had an itching to go over and check it out up close.

"You wanna have a snowball fight? Or I can be a general and you and the fencepost can be soldiers!" The list of possibilities was endless.

"Sorry, Max," Bella said. "I'm grounded today."

Max felt his heart sank, but quickly covered his disappointment with annoyance. "What for this time?" he asked, his eyes rolling.

"Talking back to Mom about Gary. What else?"

That explained why she'd been in her room most of the week. It was normal for Bella to be there nowadays.

Max looked up at her empathetically. "Oh. Well, when are you gonna be able to come out?"

"I don't know. Probably after the weekend's over."

"Well, when you're done, and if there's still snow, then will you come out and play?" He suddenly wanted to be like the knights in his books, to rescue his sister from the house and bring her to the safety of his igloo.

Bella shrugged. "Maybe. I might be busy. We'll talk later, okay? Mom doesn't want me talking to anyone while I'm punished."

"But—"

"I promise, Max, I'll talk to you later." She shut the window abruptly, cutting off the conversation. He slowly trudged back to his fort, alone.

He found the perfect stick and a plastic bag rolling across the street. He tied the bag to the stick and declared the igloo to be his official lookout. He ordered the fencepost to do his bidding while he sat in the comfort of his fort, making snowballs. He suddenly had a brilliant idea.

...

A while later, a beat-up car pulled into the driveway, rap music blasting from its speakers. High school boys and girls piled out, loud and obnoxious as they always were.

_Something wicked this way comes…_Bella thought.

She turned back to her homework. Now that Claire and her friends were in the same place, they'd somehow find a way to ruin something, and she didn't plan to watch them do it.

A splat was heard outside. Max was smiling happily, standing by his igloo. And snow was now dripping down the face of one of Claire's friends.

Bella started laughing her incredibly loud laugh. She found it very funny that Claire and her high school posse were being taken down by a nine-year-old boy and his snowballs. But in the midst of her amusement, Bella had completely forgotten that some of Claire's friends were high school boys.

_Senior _high school boys.

_Stupid _senior high school boys.

And they took challenges seriously.

No sooner had she stopped laughing that the snowballs started flying like crazy. Poor Max had to dive into his igloo for shelter, but the young boy – and the igloo, for that matter – didn't stand a chance. The bigger boys tore through it, trying to find him. The snow caved in and fell on top of him. He was completely submerged. Bella felt her heart bottom out.

The high school boys dug through the snow, and out came Max, cold and wet. The boys went back to the driveway, where Claire and the others stood. Claire, instead of going over to help Max, had an angry look on her face.

Bella got up from the window seat and stormed down the stairs. This had to end.

"Claire!" she shouted as she stood in the doorframe. "What was that all about?"

"Chill, mini-dudette!" one of Claire's friends said. "We were just havin' some fun with the kid."

Max stood in the midst of his ruined fort, tears pouring out of his eyes. Bella saw this and gave the group of older teenagers the Death Glare. "Oh, yeah. He's having the time of his life."

"Seriously, Bella," Claire said, clearly irritated. "Don't you have homework to finish? And aren't you supposed to be inside today?"

This caught Bella off-guard. "I…I'm technically inside. I'm standing in the doorframe. That…that doesn't count as being outside."

"It will to Mom…" Claire flashed her younger sister a glower as the girls started to snicker. They piled back into the car and drove away.

Bella rolled her eyes and was about to shut the door when she stopped. Max continued to stand by his destroyed igloo. He stared after the car, and Bella could see Claire glance back at him, giving him a look that almost made her run at the car and throw a brick through the windshield.

Max shook his head, his body tremoring with anger. He practically knocked into her as he bolted into the house. He pounded up the stairs, and a moment later, a door slammed. Bashes and slams came from the upper level.

Bella closed the door, bewildered. Everything had happened so fast, she didn't know what to make of it. All she knew was that Max was upset. But she couldn't blame him.

Claire could be a witch sometimes. Her friends were complete idiots. There was nothing anyone could do to change that. However, this time, they'd gone too far.

Bella wished she could do something, but knew it was hopeless. Claire had been like this for years, and they were way past the point of no return. All Bella could do now was go up the stairs, back to her Trig homework.

Ten minutes later a note was slid under her closed bedroom door.

Bella picked it up. It was on construction paper and in crayon, two things that immediately told her that this note was from Max. She opened it, big red letters hitting her full force.

_You could have stopped them. You didn't help me._

_I HATE YOU._


	23. 21: What Max Did

_Thanks to CarolJudithFan for helping me with this chapter. You rock my sox!_

...

Chapter Twenty-One: What Max Did

Bella promptly crumpled up the paper and dropped it. Max didn't mean what he said. They told each other "I hate you" all the time, but in a joking manner. She needed to take into account that he was still upset about Claire.

She found his door shut and knocked. "Max, it's me."

"Go away!"

She folded her arms. "Max, seriously. Open the door."

"No!"

"I'm coming in…" she warned, her hand on the doorknob.

The door swung open to reveal a blotchy-faced Max in his long underwear. The contempt in his eyes almost convinced her that the note had been for real this time.

"I told you to go away!" he said angrily.

"And I told you to open the door, which you did," Bella pointed out. "So at least we're getting somewhere."

Max said nothing, his mouth pursing in frustration.

"You know I'm grounded," Bella continued. "Claire's probably gonna bust me for merely standing in the threshold with the door open, because apparently that counts as being outside."

"Well…" Max seemed unable to say anything for a moment.

"Now do you get why I couldn't help?"

"Just standing there yelling at them didn't do anything!" he practically shouted. "We learned at school the other day that if you let someone be bullied, it's just as bad as doing the actual bullying! You saw them practically kill me! Why didn't you help?"

"I just explained this to you!" Bella said incredulously. "I was grounded—"

"I would have told Mom everything!" Max interrupted.

"Claire would've gotten to her first, and besides, you know how Mom gets when she knows that we've been fighting."

Angry tears rolled down her brother's face. "Just go away." He began to shut the door.

"Max…" She caught the door with her foot.

"Don't bother coming in here anymore. You wouldn't care, anyway," he said as he shut the door.

Bella groaned inwardly. She knew it was no use arguing when Max got like this. She once again found the only solution was to go back to her homework, and try to avoid talking to her mother about the day's fiasco.

As she walked down the hallway, she noticed melted snow on the hardwood floor. There was a trail of it leading to forbidden territory – Claire's room.

She rarely went into her sister's room. It was certain death even thinking about it. But her curiosity got the better of her. She couldn't help opening the door to take a quick peek.

The melted snow prints and broken Popsicle sticks were all she needed to see.

After making sure Max's door was closed all the way, she tiptoed into the room and looked around. After a few minutes, she finally recognized the Popsicle sticks as a valentine Max had made Claire the year before. Only now it was a pile of sticks and paper. And on top of that, her room was trashed, water soaking the carpet.

_Oh, Max…you were doing so good at not losing your temper like this…_

It was true. As he had gotten older, Max's behavior became more severe. He'd do something completely stupid, whether it be on accident or on purpose, and then later regret doing it in the first place. And it was often very extreme, and it scared Bella to know that he was capable of doing things like that. She often wondered how her brother's mind worked and why he'd get so upset over things.

As of late, he'd kept his outbursts in check – until ten minutes ago. Although she didn't blame Max for being angry with their older sister, it didn't give him the right to destroy her room like he had.

...

Unbeknownst to Bella, Max had snuck into her room right after he'd trashed Claire's room and took the one thing he knew she cherished most: the dragon claw necklace he'd gotten her for her birthday a few years ago at the renaissance fair. He planned to do away with it like he had with Claire's room; only this time…he'd do something even worse.

He held a hardcover book, poising it just above the marble part of the necklace. Paper and a messy room could be put back together, but marble would be too difficult to do the same. He'd show Bella that he could be mean, too.

Max tried to bring his arms down, but he found he couldn't do it. Just staring at the necklace made him think about how wrong his actions were – not just what he was about to do, but what he had done only a few minutes before.

What was the purpose of all this? His actions frightened him, and he immediately wanted to go into Claire's room and somehow extract all the water and fix the valentine. But there was no going back now. What was done was done. He looked at the dragon claw and realized what he had to do.

_I'll just sneak into her room and put it back—_

An ear-shattering scream came from down the hallway. "MAX!"

_Too late. _Hoping not to get in trouble, he stuffed the necklace up the sleeve of his shirt just as he heard to doorknob turn.

She burst into his room, furious. "Did you take my dragon claw necklace without asking?"

Max sat still, frozen with fear.

"You did, didn't you?"

"Bella—"

"Where is it?"

Max shrugged. As he did, the necklace came out of his sleeve and clattered to the floor. Bella scooped it up, clearly angry with him.

"First Claire's room, and now this? I swear, Max, sometimes…you can be so stupid!" She threw the necklace at his arm. "You know what? Keep the dumb thing! Do whatever you were gonna do with it! It's all yours!" She stormed down the hall and slammed the door, leaving Max feeling awful.

...

"I'm home!" Connie called.

_I'm dead, _Max thought to himself as he lay in bed. He held Bella's necklace close as Connie cracked the door open.

"Hey, sweetheart," she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "You have a good day?"

The day's events smacked him in the face. Tears poured from his eyes as if he'd turned a faucet on full blast. His sisters hated him – and it was all his fault.

"Max? What's wrong?" Connie rubbed his arm assuringly.

"Claire and her stupid friends wrecked my igloo," he said.

"Oh, Max…"

"I worked all day on it."

Connie looked at him sympathetically.

"Her dumb friends almost killed me. Claire didn't help me. And neither did Bella."

"I would have helped," Connie said reassuringly.

Max looked at the window. It had started to snow again. He hoped that Claire and her friends had driven into a snowy ditch and were stuck in the middle of nowhere.

"Where's my little songbird?" Connie asked, referring to Bella. "How was her day?"

Max thought for a moment. "Cramped," he finally said.

"I'll bet. Not being able to go outside…but she did it to herself." Connie quickly asserted her decision before she changed her mind. "She should think about what comes out of her mouth before she says anything."

Max nodded, concealing the necklace from his mother's view.

"What's that?" Connie asked.

_Busted. _He showed her the necklace.

"Is that Bella's?"

He nodded. "I stole it." He hadn't wanted to say that, but it had come out anyway.

Connie's eyebrows came together. "Max…that wasn't very nice."

"I was angry with her. But then she got angry with me for taking it. Then she said to keep it."

Connie sighed. "Max, you can't go around doing things like that to your sister. She's…going through a rough spot. And she doesn't need you worsening her situation."

Max now wished that he could disappear off the face of the earth, never to bother anyone ever again. The world would be a lot better off without him ever existing.

He was riddled with guilt, and now knew what needed to be done. He sat up and looked at his mother.

"Mom? I…I have something to show you…"

...

Connie walked on the carpet of Claire's room, which was now soaked with water. She started in horror at the waterlogged contents of her eldest daughter's room.

"What happened in here? Did you do this?"

Max nodded slowly, deciding his feet were more interesting than looking at Connie.

"Max…" She shook her head. "What have you done? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know," he mumbled.

She walked past him and ran down the stairs. She came back up with towels. "Come on," she said. "We're going to clean this up."

...

There was a knock at Bella's door.

"Come in," she called.

"Hey," Connie said quietly, walking in. She came over and sat on the edge of Bella's bed.

She held up a sopping-wet towel. "Max told me what happened today."

Bella restrained herself from getting angry at the mention of her brother. "How much?"

"It started with a snow fort and ended with a missing dragon claw," Connie said wryly, but Bella could see the worry lines on her face.

Bella rolled her eyes. "I really don't wanna talk about it, Mom."

"That's fine, honey. Then I'll talk and you can listen."

Bella had had a feeling that she'd say that.

"Bella, I would have been angry at first that you disobeyed your punishment, but I would have understood if you'd gone out to help your brother today."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

"I didn't say it was. I'm just saying that if you had decided to stand up for him, I would have understood."

"So basically it's all my fault."

"Please stop being dramatic, Bella. I didn't say that."

"And I suppose Claire's getting off the hook as usual?"

"Your sister does not get 'off the hook' with everything. I called her, and she's already been talked to about what she did."

"And what's the punishment?"

Connie paused. "If you needed to know, I'd tell you. But you don't."

Bella tried to keep her anger in check. "She's let off with a warning, right?"

"Bella—"

"That seems fair that she can still go out this weekend and I have to stay put."

"Isabella! This is why I grounded you! This…saucy attitude has got to stop!"

Bella folded her arms.

"Now, I'd like you to please come and help Max and I mop up Claire's room."

"Why should I? I didn't do it."

"It'd be a big help."

"Why am I being punished for something he did?"

Connie handed her a clean towel. "Please don't question me, Bella. Just come and help. And tomorrow, I would like you to apologize to Max for yelling at him."

"What about him? Shouldn't he apologize to me?"

"I've talked to him, too, and he's doing the same thing tomorrow, as well as Claire. All three of you are going to stop acting like this and start being a family."

"Why do I have to apologize? I didn't do anything."

"Bella, please—"

"Mom! Seriously! You come up with these stupid excuses as to why we need to be sorry for things!"

"Stupid excuses? Bella, what about your attitude as of late?"

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

Connie stood up. "This conversation is over. Now come and help," she said coldly as she left the room.


	24. 22: Late Night Story

_Thanks for everyone who's sticking with me! You guys rock!_

_P.S.: I know I said that Bella is based off a good friend of mine whom I met last summer at theater camp. However, I will be making some references to Bella Swan just for kicks._

...

Chapter Twenty-Two: Late Night Story

She wasn't talking to him ever again.

It was official now. While cleaning up the Witch's room, she'd declared it in her mind that she'd stop talking to Max. He was obviously not going to improve, and neither was she. It didn't do any good to try to contradict it.

Along with this, she was also going to stop interfering with things. Her big mouth was a menace to her family, and got her into an enormous amount of trouble every day. All she had to do was stop meddling with everyone's business and she'd be home free.

She'd figured it all out while she sat alone in her room, eating dinner. It was perfect, and it was foolproof. The question was would it work with the screwed-up relations she called family.

Bella distracted herself from her harsh plan by trying to read the _Twilight _books, but it was no use. Stephanie Meyer's dark, seductive world couldn't suck her in at the moment. Besides, it was bad enough that some of the kids at school were calling her "Vampire Girl" and "Edwina Cullen".

Despite that, she was relieved to find that there was school the next day, on account of the streets were now ploughed and there would be a rain storm that would wash a good portion of the snow away. Anything to get her out of this house. She needed it; they all did.

...

Max snuck into Connie's office later that night. She was at her computer, talking on the phone with one of her co-workers. She looked tired, a sight that was often displayed on her face after a hard day at the office.

So Max decided to cheer her up.

He began his impression of the robot, making his limbs stiff and bumping into the wall, then into a cabinet. Connie began to laugh, amused by her son's dance. Max purposefully knocked once more into the cabinet and lay on the floor, suddenly exhausted.

She hung up the phone and looked down at him as he played with the panty hose on her feet. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi," he said.

"I could use a story."

This was something they did together often. After a long day at work, Max would cheer her up with one of the many stories he would make up off the top of his head, and she'd type along.

"Once there were these really tall buildings…" he began. "And they could walk. There were also some vampires."

Connie was now typing on a blank Word Processing page, following along with Max.

"The vampires lived in the buildings." It was coming clearer, faster now. "The leader of the vampires was very pretty and very smart. Her name was…" He sighed, not wanting to continue, but knowing he had to.

"Scratch what I said, Mom. About the vampire leader. Delete it."

Bella the Vampire had gone into oblivion for quite some time – ever since those books about the vampires had come out. Bella had made it clear to everyone that she was not thrilled that she shared the same name as the main character, especially after the kids at her school began to make fun of her for it. Max, respecting her wishes, hadn't drawn a picture of his sister's alter ego in a long time. He'd tried to release her from the vault of his mind. She needed some air, he'd decided.

But not tonight.

"The vampires wanted all the buildings to be made into vampires, too," Max continued. "So they attacked. One of the vampires bit the tallest building. And…all his teeth fell out. Then he started to cry, because they wouldn't grow back."

Connie seemed to get a worried look on her face, but continued to type.

"The other vampires asked him, 'What's wrong?'. He said, 'All my teeth fell out.' They said, 'Well, it's okay, because those were just your baby teeth.' And he said, 'No, those were my grownup teeth.' He couldn't do anything else without his teeth, so they left him. And he couldn't be friends with the buildings because the vampires had killed them all. The end."

Connie pulled away from the keyboard and smiled sadly at him. He knew that it wasn't the most uplifting story he could think of, but he still felt hurt from what had happened earlier.

But as Connie continued to smile at him, he felt his own face crack, and a small smile appeared. He somehow knew that everything was okay now.

...

Trying to sleep with so much on her mind was difficult, so after tossing and turning for a while, Bella got out of bed and walked quietly down the hall to her mother's office to apologize for earlier. As she did, she heard Connie say, "I could use a story."

She froze in the doorway when she saw Max laying on the floor by Connie's computer desk. She backtracked a few inches and knelt by the wall, peeking in ever so slightly.

Connie began to type as Max started a story.

Bella couldn't help but smile. This was something Max and Connie loved to do together. She had always wanted to join in, but she didn't want to spoil something that was very special and didn't concern her.

Connie looked worried now. Max's story wasn't going to be the stroll-in-the-park that their mother had envisioned, Bella decided.

Max had stopped talking, and Bella guessed that his story was over now. Max and Connie smiled at each other, communicating in that special way that only a mother and son can understand. Even if she would never be a part of something like that, their smiling indicated that Connie was no longer mad about the incident.

_She'll still make us apologize, though, _Bella reminded herself as she walked back down the hallway.

And as she got into bed, she realized a horrible thought. Max and Connie may not have been mad about what had happened anymore, but as she finally fell asleep, she knew that she herself wasn't willing to let go of her bad feelings for Max just yet.


	25. 23: Torn Inside

Chapter Twenty-Three: Torn Inside

The next morning, the breakfast table was absolutely silent. The only sounds were the crunch of cereal and clinking of silverware on plates and bowls.

Connie cleared her throat. The three siblings looked at her, and she nodded her head.

Claire sighed and turned to Max. "Max, I'm sorry that my friends destroyed your snow thing yesterday. I'm also sorry that I didn't stop them and that I didn't help you."

Bella noticed that her sister's voice was clipped and forced, like it usually was when she apologized and still thought she had done nothing wrong.

Claire then turned to Bella. "Bella, I'm sorry for threatening to rat you out to Mom. It wasn't right and it prevented you from helping Max."

Connie seemed to approve, then looked at Bella expectantly.

"Claire, I'm sorry that I'm always so snappy with you. I should try to work on thinking before saying anything so I won't hurt anyone's feelings."

She looked at Max, anger still burning at her insides. "Max, I'm sorry I didn't help you when Claire's friends attacked. I should've known that Mom would have understood my actions."

"And?" Connie prompted.

"And I'm sorry I yelled at you for stealing my dragon claw," she muttered.

Connie once again smiled in approval. She finally turned to look at Max.

"Bella, I'm sorry that I got mad at you. And that I wrote the note. And that I took your dragon claw." He looked at the table the whole time, his face the image of shame.

"Claire, I'm sorry I ripped up your valentine," he went on. "And that I made a mess in your room."

Although the three of them looked completely aggravated by what had just taken place, Connie seemed satisfied. "Now was that so hard to do?"

"Yes," Claire answered automatically. "Can I _please_ go now? Dana's gonna be here any minute."

"Go ahead, Claire. Be safe. And remember: be home—"

"—by ten tomorrow. Got it!" Claire hastily got up from the table and ran to the front door. "BYE!" she yelled as the door slammed behind her. A moment later, the honk of a car horn sounded and the screech of tires could be heard on the street.

"Okay, kids, get ready," Connie said, getting up, as well. "I'm taking both of you to school today." She walked out of the room, leaving Bella and Max alone.

Bella didn't look directly at her brother. She stared at her now-empty plate, knowing that if she looked at him again, she wouldn't be able to control the anger she harbored for him.

_Maybe if I stay quiet, he'll leave me alone._

"Bella?" Max piped up.

_Well, so much for that._

"What?" Even though she wasn't talking to him, she couldn't be rude when he directly addressed her.

_Please don't say anything about the stupid necklace. I'll seriously kill you if you do._

"Are you mad?"

"Mad about what?"

"That I took your dragon claw?"

_Dang it._

"Can we please not talk about it?" Bella got up from the table, taking her dishes with her. She groaned inwardly when Max trailed behind her.

"But I don't wanna fight anymore," Max insisted. "I'm really sorry about what I did."

"Well, sometimes—"

"Sorry isn't enough," he finished, rolling his eyes. "I know, I know. Like I haven't heard that from Mom."

_Shoot. He's not as ignorant as he looks._

Bella loaded her dishes in the dishwasher. Not speaking to him was obviously not going to work, she could see. It was too difficult to ignore him.

"Let it go, Max. It's not worth it."

Max got The Look on his face. Now she was really in deep water.

"Is there a reason why you hate me?"

"Max, don't say that. I don't hate you."

"Then why are you so mean to me?"

Bella gave a frustrated sigh. "I really don't wanna talk about this."

"Just like you never wanna talk about anything," Max mumbled.

"Okay, that's so not true…" Bella said, knowing full well that it was.

"It is, too!"

She held up her hands. "Let's just please not talk about it! So I'm still a bit angry with you! Big shocker! Everyone gets angry sometimes! It's not the end of the world!"

Max's eyes were huge. "Oh…I didn't know you felt that strongly."

Even though she knew they could never go back to the way things were, she could still see traces of her brother from when he was younger. She decided to focus on those remnants.

"Max, remember what I told you when you were little? About how people get angry and fight sometimes?"

Max nodded.

"It doesn't mean that we don't love each other just because we have one stupid fight." She smoothed his hair away from his face. "I'm over it now, okay? I accept your apology. And…ditto with Claire."

The ghost of a smile lingered on his face. "Okay." He hugged her. "Thanks, Bella."

"Anytime, Max." She stood in the kitchen and watched as he ran up the stairs to get ready, and stayed their long after he'd disappeared up the stairs.

...

The ride to school wasn't nearly as pleasant as their encounter in the kitchen. Bella and Connie still had an unsettled disagreement going on, and the three of them knew it. It was visible on Max's face that he was relieved when he emerged from the car and ran into school.

As soon as they pulled away, Connie dove right in.

"I'm glad you apologized this morning."

Bella glanced at her. "Oh. Cool."

"But I know you didn't really mean it."

_Well, thanks for stating the obvious._

"I know it's hard on you kids to be under the circumstances that we're in…"

_Oh, no…_

"Mom," Bella interrupted. "This has nothing to do with that. Can we please not talk about it?"

Connie stared at her. "You know, Bella, it'd be nice if you'd let other people talk once in a while."

"Since when has this conversation have anything to do with me and my talking habits?" Bella asked incredulously.

Connie sighed, frustrated. "Never mind." She stopped in front of the school. "Have a nice day."

...

"So," Tori said, sitting down. "How was your snow day?"

Bella angrily stabbed at the watermelon on her lunch tray. "Sucked," she said, the word dancing on her tongue. She felt the guilty pleasure of defying her mother.

"What happened?"

Bella looked up. "I was stuck inside all day, because of Mom's great policy of 'Snow Days Count as the Weekend'. Max built an igloo, and then Claire had to go and let her friends ruin that. And I got blamed for it."

"Oh, my gosh! So, like, your mom thought you destroyed it?"

"No. I stayed inside while they destroyed it. But she still thought that I should have gone out and helped, even though I wasn't allowed to go outside."

"Oh." Tori was silent for a moment before talking again. "Oh. My. Gosh. So my mom took me shopping yesterday, and I got the cutest pair of Uggs!" She stuck out her feet, proud of her suede boots.

"You _would_ do that," Bella muttered angrily.

"Do what?"

"You would change the subject to something other than what I'm talking about," Bella said. "It's what you always do."

Tori laughed nervously. "Bella, come on…"

"No, I'm not gonna 'come on'. You always have to change the subject so we're talking about you." Bella didn't know why she was telling her best friend her innermost thoughts, but it felt good to get the weight off her chest.

"I do not." Tori was beginning to get defensive.

"Yes, you do!"

"Joey would never talk to me this way," Tori said huffily, talking about her boyfriend.

"And that, too! You're always talking about Joey or something stupid! Well, is Joey more important than me? Your best friend?"

Tori glared at Bella and said nothing.

"So, what did you do yesterday besides shop for overpriced footwear? Go on a date with Joey? Because he's so special that he'd break your heart how many times!"

Tori now had tears rolling down her face. "What's with you, Bella?"

"What do you mean, what's with me?" Bella practically shouted, feeling the urge to speak her mind. "What's with _you_? You're the one who decides to go ahead and date some player without even consulting me—"

"What's the big deal, anyway? Why do you care so much?"

"I care about my best friend, that's why!"

Other students were beginning to notice that the two of them were in a fight. Tori tried to keep her voice down.

"Well, has it ever occurred to you that maybe you should care about what makes me happy instead of what makes you happy?" she angrily whispered, more tears welling up in her eyes. "My going out with Joey shouldn't concern you. It's my deal, and you should be happy for me!"

Bella angrily glared at her friend, not bothering to be quiet. "Well, if you didn't pick such a bonehead to date, maybe I wouldn't be so opinionated."

Tori was sobbing now. "He's changed, okay? He promised me!"

Bella looked at her skeptically. "Right. I'll believe that when pigs fly."

"If you'd just give him a chance, maybe you'd see that he has changed! I've been trying to tell you that all week, but all you've been doing is complaining about something!"

"You have not!"

"Yes, I have! You were too busy talking about something else to notice!"

The words brought memories of the past few days back, and Bella vaguely recalled that Tori _had_ tried to mention something about Joey being a different person. But she'd been talking about other things: her mother's stupid boyfriend, her sister's obnoxious attitude, and her brother's rambunctious behavior. Realizing this brought a cold sensation over Bella.

"Tori…I'm sorry," she said, reaching across the table to her best friend. "I had no idea…"

"Well, of course not," Tori said coldly. "How could you? I mean, you're so busy whining about your life…"

Bella jerked her hand back as if she'd just touched a burning stove. "Tori, I…"

"Have you ever stopped to consider who you are, Bella?"

This made no sense. "What do you mean?"

Tori paused. "If you don't know, then figure it out. It's not too hard."

"Tori, now's not the time to be all cryptic."

"I'm serious. Figure it out. It's not rocket science." She paused again, a serious look coming over her face. "The Bella I know would have gone out and helped Max, punishment or not."

Bella balled her hands into fists, hating to be wrong. "I'm not talking to you anymore." She picked up her lunch tray, turned on her heels, and walked away, tears fighting their way down her flushed face.


	26. 24: Hideaway

Chapter Twenty-Four: Hideaway

Max was thankful that Claire had gone over to a friend's house to spend the night. He needed the car ride home to be silent; his thoughts were jumbled and he wanted to sort them out.

Today had been a worrisome school day for Max. His teacher had told the class that the sun was going to die, and that the world was going to end. The words were still bouncing across his mind: "The solar system will go dark…permanently."

Something about those words sent a shudder of fear through the nine-year-old. He had enough problems to deal with without having to worry about the end of the world and the sun dying. There had to be some way that everything could go back to normal…

"Something wrong?" Connie asked.

_Yeah…everything, _Max almost answered, but before the words came out, he realized his mother wasn't talking to him.

"No. Everything's fine." Bella, sitting in the front seat, leaned her head against the window, looking out at the rain-soaked world.

"You're not texting Tori, like you usually do." Connie looked at her daughter in worry. "Did you two have a fight?"

Bella nodded. "I don't even know how it happened. We were talking, and then I started to say things I didn't want to say, and then we were yelling at each other…" She sounded choked up, and had to stop recounting the events.

"Best friends fight sometimes," Connie said consolingly. "It's part of a healthy relationship."

"She's not going to forgive me this time," Bella said. "I told her things I'd never say to her face, but once I started…it was hard to stop."

"I told you…"

"Mom." Bella held up her hand. "Please."

Connie turned back to the road, clearly concerned. It was probably a good idea to hold onto the news that the world was going to end, Max decided.

...

He wasn't going to panic. Now was definitely not the time to do a silly thing like that. Instead, he'd take the more rational approach.

He gathered as many blankets as he could and tried to recreate the fort that had rudely been destroyed the day before. It wasn't as sturdy, but he was sure it would withhold floods and storms and whatever else would be thrown his way.

Inside was safe and warm. He wondered why his life couldn't feel this way. He didn't feel safe or warm anywhere anymore, or with anyone. Claire repelled him, Connie was always busy, Bella insisted on playing hide-and-seek with her emotions, and his dad was never around. As for Gary…Max couldn't even begin to fathom why he'd even consider his mother's numbskull boyfriend.

But none of that mattered. He was all alone, and he needed someone to play with. Someone to talk to. Someone to save from the dying sun.

"Mom! Come up here! You gotta see this!" he called down the stairs.

"Can it wait, Max? I'm busy!"

Of course. No surprise.

"Please, Mom? It's really cool!"

"I'll see it after dinner, okay?"

She was probably watching TV with the idiot. How could she focus on canned audiences and her boyfriend at a time like this?

It apparently wasn't very hard, because he heard the two of them laughing at something on the television. Fine. Let them laugh at people in that stupid box. Let the dumb thing save them when the world ended. He wouldn't feel sorry in the least.

Claire wasn't home, so she was automatically off his list. That meant taht the last person in the house he could try was next door, locked up in her room, doing her homework and sulking about her argument with Tori. She loved his forts, and he knew she couldn't resist this one.

He ran out in the hallway and knocked. "Bella? You in there?"

No answer. She was humming to a tune on her iPod, most likely.

"Bella! Come on! I made a fort!"

The humming was louder, telling him that she was ignoring him on purpose.

Max stormed back to his room, ready to scrap the whole idea. He'd tear down his fort since no one really cared, anyway. He needed something – anything – to do tonight, since the end of the world was no longer a major concern.

His eyes fell on his wolf suit hanging on the back of his door. He'd grown into it, like his dad had predicted. It now fit him perfectly, and he wore it often to chase Stumpy around the house (if Stumpy wasn't hiding in the basement, which was his usual stakeout).

He felt his face light up as he reached for the suit. It cured his loneliness, was there when no one else was. He needed some brightening up tonight, and as he slipped on his practically-a-friend, he was once again struck with an ingenious idea.

...

Bella was thankful, for the first time in what seemed like years. It was after school, and she could be in the comfort of her bedroom for two-and-a-half days without virtually any interruptions.

She held off on her homework at first and decided to read. It was difficult; her mind wandered back to how she and Tori were still arguing. Why had she said those things? She hadn't wanted to, but her emotions had seemed to take over her body, and out came thoughts she'd never dreamed she'd say to her best friend's face.

After realizing reading wasn't going to stimulate her, she gave in and started on her homework. She easily got bored with this, but she didn't want to drag it out over the weekend, like she usually did. She plugged in her iPod headphones, knowing that her ears would be happy, at least.

Through the music, she heard movement in the room next door. It was most likely Max, building something completely amazing—

_STOP._

She turned back to her homework, sure that the intensity of her eyes would bore a hole into her Spanish textbook. She wasn't going to bother sparing thoughts for her brother. She was done messing with her family, done being grounded. Done with upsetting a lifestyle that was obviously being corrupted by her presence.

A little while later, she heard him calling to their mother to come upstairs. Judging from the headlights that had spilled into her room an hour before, Gary was over, and Connie was too busy spending time with him to pay attention to Max.

Sure enough, a knock on her door came a few seconds later. "Bella?" Max called quietly.

_Don't bother…_she told herself. _It's so not worth it. _

He wasn't going away. "Bella! I made a fort! You gotta come see it!"

She turned the music louder, drowning him out. She didn't hear anything after that, so she figured he'd gone back to his room.

Her stomach growled. Dinner was going to be soon, but she couldn't wait until then, she knew.

"Shut up, stomach," she said.

It rumbled again. There was no use resisting.

"Fine," she conceded. "I'll go get some fruit."

...

She walked down the stairs and peaked at the living room. Connie and Gary were drinking wine and being gushy with each other. Bella expected her eyes to explode and her lunch – what she'd eaten of it – to be making a trip back up her throat at any time.

But as she observed them longer, Bella found her disgust ebbing away. Connie was smiling and laughing, and she looked like she was having fun.

She was…happy.

And all because of Gary.

No matter how much she hated him, Bella wouldn't deny that Gary made her mother happy. That was what really mattered…right?

Bella shook the thought from her head as she tore through the fridge. She found an apple (_How ironic is that?_) and hungrily bit down.

"Psst! Bella!"

Bella turned from the fridge, apple still in her mouth, and saw Max in his wolf suit, looking up at her with his big brown eyes. Surprised that she was still somewhat mad at him, she wanted to make this encounter quick.

"What, Max?" she asked, shutting the fridge door and setting the apple on the counter.

"I need your help," he pleaded. He pointed around the corner. "I'm gonna try to get rid of him."

Bella frowned at him. "You're not serious."

Max blinked a few times. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Bella looked from side to side. "Max, this isn't a good idea. I wouldn't do it if I were you."

He looked dejected. "Didn't you tell me that I should go after the things I want?" he asked, referring to a phrase she'd told him when they were younger.

She knelt down to his level. "This isn't what I meant. You…" She sighed. "It's different, okay? This isn't some sort of game of yours. It's Mom's life."

He shook his head. "What happened to the two of us being on the same team when it came to him? You know how much of an idiot he is. We have to save Mom. Please." He looked her in the eyes. "Can't you do this for me? I'm you're brother. 'You jump, I jump', remember?"

Bella hated it when he did this. He knew _Titanic _was her weak spot.

But she wouldn't back down that easily.

"Max…I can't get involved in something like this. I'm in enough trouble as it is. I'm not gonna give Mom more reason to punish me." She hadn't meant to let anyone on to her plan, but it had come out.

She stood up, and the two of them peeked around the corner once more. Connie and Gary were telling each other how cute the other one was. While Bella was secretly enjoying what she saw, she noticed Max wasn't as jubilent. He looked upset, and she quickly turned him around to speak to him.

"You saw them in there," she said. "I was wrong about him, okay? Mom looks really happy. This is the first time I've seen her look genuinely happy in a long time."

Max folded his arms in defiance. She knew he wasn't going to be persuaded that easily. But she didn't have the energy to tell him otherwise.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead and do whatever. Be a wild thing or a wolf or whatever you had planned." She grabbed the apple and walked away. "Just know that I'm not supporting it."


	27. 25: Capsized

_Hey! I don't know if I did well with this chapter...I tried to do a trick I've seen in books where the author frequently switches viewpoints. I don't know if it'll be confusing or not...so sorry if it is! Oh, and this chapter is like the definition of angst. Just thought I'd warn you._

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Twenty-Five: Capsized

Max felt his feet stick to the kitchen floor as he listened to his sister's feet on the stairs and her bedroom door close. He gritted his teeth and emitted a low growl – a sound that contained all of his emotions: pain, anger, and frustration. It was the only thing he had left to mask his broken heart.

He glanced around the corner. His mother and Gary were still displaying their affectionate gestures, and Max felt his stomach churn. There was always someone else in his mother's life – someone that wasn't him. Her own son, unimportant.

"Hey, Maxie," she said as she walked past, ruffling his wolf ears. He didn't even look at her; his anger was festering, boiling like a vat of hot poison within him.

"Bella! Come get your CDs off the table!" Connie called, forgetting, once again, that Max was there.

...

Max was reminded why he was doing this as he followed his mother into the kitchen. He wanted everyone in the house to know he existed. He was through being the good little boy who did what his parents told him and never uttered a word to anybody. He was a crazy wolf, and could eat them all if he chose to do so.

"Mom, what _is _that?" Max asked, pointing to something on the stove that looked like beige cheese.

"It's pate," Connie answered.

Max wrinkled his nose and climbed onto a chair. "Gross."

"When you have your own house and can provide for yourself, you can have whatever you want," she answered, her back turned to him. She didn't say this in her normal joking voice. She sounded tired, annoyed.

"Max, can you please tell your sister to get her stuff off the table?"

Max narrowed his eyes. He turned around and mustered all the sound he could.

"BELLA! MOM SAYS TO GET YOUR STUFF OFF THE TABLE!"

"I could have done that." Connie frowned at him. "Don't yell."

Upstairs, Bella reluctantly slammed her textbook shut. Couldn't she get some peace and quiet for once? Didn't her family see that she was trying to stay out of the way? She got up from the bed and walked down the stairs, not wanting to face them, knowing that if she did, something would slip and she'd be faced with more punishment.

"Why, hello, Isabella," Gary said from the living room.

"Hey," Bella answered passively. She didn't look at him, having the sudden urge to dump water on his head.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, she noticed her mother was making dinner. Max, still clad in his wolf suit, was kneeling on a chair by the island, looking disdainfully at the food that lay there.

"Why do we have to have frozen corn? What's wrong with real corn?" Max was complaining about dinner, something he often did.

"Frozen corn _is _real," Connie answered absently, working on something that was on the stove. She turned around. "Bella! Get down here NOW!"

"Chill, Mom, I'm right here," Bella said, an edge in her voice.

Max tore his gaze away from the corn to glare at his sister. _Go away. No one wants you. _He wished he had telepathy, or some sort of mind power to will Bella to go back upstairs.

"Go get your stuff off the table, dear," Connie said.

_Go on…_Bella urged herself. _Get your dumb CDs off the table and leave…don't bother with these people…_

_Get your stuff and leave, _Max thought. _No one likes you. Just go._

"Fine," Bella said, leaning against a cabinet. "I'll do it in a minute." She had just gotten there, and even though she wanted to get back to her room as soon as possible, part of her couldn't resist the urge to watch how well her mother was handling her little wild thing.

"No, you'll do it _now_," Connie said.

Bella didn't move.

Max turned away from them and looked at the island. What if he…?

While Connie and Bella were having their conversation, Bella noticed out of the corner of her eye that Max was now towering over them.

_Oh, no…_

"Max, get off the counter," Connie commanded.

He stared down at the two of them and he growled deeply, sounding like an animal.

_Don't come any closer. I'll tear off your heads._

"Bella, please get your belongings off the table," Connie said, her gaze on Max.

Bella went to the dining room table and gathered some of her CDs in a pile. She started for the stairs when things started getting out of hand.

"Woman!" Max demanded of Connie. "Feed me!" He loved that he sounded so powerful.

"What the hell, Max?" Bella said without thinking as she passed. It wasn't like him to say things like that.

"Isabella Kaye!" Connie averted her eyes to her middle child.

"Sorry…it slipped." Bella set her CDs at the foot of the stairs before standing next to her mother.

"It'd better not slip again. As for you, Max," Connie said, "I told you to get off the damn counter."

Bella almost pointed out that her mother had used profanity right after she had, but decided against it.

_Remember…no interfering…_

"Never!" Max declared. He wasn't going to obey someone as inferior as Connie. He no longer listened to her.

"Bella, tell him to get off the island, please," Connie pleaded. "He obviously won't listen to me."

Bella now stared up at her brother, looking into his brown eyes. They were no longer filled with the innocence and kindness they once had. Instead, they burned with pain, anger, and frustration.

_You can't tell me what to do, _Max thought. _You're too weak._

_No interfering, Bella…_

She shook her head. "I can't do this." She walked towards the stairs.

_Ha! _Max smiled smugly to himself, proud that she could be turned away so easily.

"Bella!" Connie had a disbelieving look on her face.

"Mom, this isn't my fight. I can't get involved."

"Go help your mother," Gary said, still watching TV in the living room.

Bella was surprised to hear his voice so…firm. She approached him, an incredulous look crossing her face. "Excuse me?"

"Go help her control him."

"And who are you to walk into my house and boss me around?" Bella put her hands on her hips. She wondered what had suddenly compelled him to sound like someone his own age.

"I'll give you to the count of three to GET DOWN FROM THERE," Connie shouted. "One…two…"

"I refuse to eat frozen corn!" Max shouted back. He was really getting angry now.

"Max, get down! Bella, just come and help!" Connie called from the kitchen.

"I'll eat you up!" roared Max.

"You heard your mother," Gary urged Bella. "Go help her with the little monster."

"I don't have to listen to you," Bella told him. "You're not my father."

Gary snorted. "Yet."

That did it. Bella's temper had reached its breaking point, and there was no telling what she'd do now. The thought of water crossed her mind again.

She looked around the living room, seething mad. Her eyes fell on an open wine bottle.

_How do you like them apples, Gary?_

Before she knew what she was doing, wine was staining the couch violet red and Gary was trying to get the liquid out of his hair and off of his clothes. "Look what you did!" he cried.

Connie came in, leaving Max in the kitchen. "Isabella Kaye Carson!" she screamed.

_So much for not interfering…_

"You are _sixteen years old_, not five! What were you thinking, young lady?"

Bella gave her mother an ugly glare, tears streaking down her cheeks. She didn't even care that it had felt good to dump wine on Gary. All she cared about was that Connie would side with Gary and that she'd be grounded for the rest of her life.

_You have to control yourself…_

"Like you care!" Bella shouted.

Before she could say anything more, Max suddenly appeared, howling like a wolf and running around insanely. They were ignoring him again, and he wasn't going to have any of it.

"ARRROOOOOOO!" he howled.

Connie started to chase him, leaving the other two in the living room. She caught him in the entryway and grabbed ahold of his arm. "You need to calm down!" she fiercely told Max.

Gary pushed past Bella, going out into the entryway, as well. Bella saw this as her chance to sneak away before she made things worse for everyone.

Max wriggled and twisted in his mother's grip, but she wasn't letting go. Gary looked upon him with disapproving eyes, which only made him squirm harder.

Before disappearing, Bella looked one last time at Max. His eyes hadn't changed as he screamed at the top of his lungs, clearly unhappy. He was still a wild thing.

But somehow…he wasn't hers any longer.

"You're an out of control wild thing." She knew it was something Connie would say, but it was all she could come up with. "You're not mine anymore."

She ran quietly up the stairs, slamming her door as she heard her mother yelp and Max emit sob after sob. Gary said something about Max's behavior, but Bella didn't want another reason to go back down and confront them. She threw her school things on the floor and flopped on the bed, hating the world and wanting her family to disappear.

...

Bella's words hit him with an intensity he couldn't take in. His anger boiled over him, and he focused all his energy onto Connie. His head went towards her and he bit down on Connie's arm – hard.

She yelped and pulled away. "MAX!" she screamed.

He hadn't wanted to do that. He'd just done it without thinking. Knowing he'd done something to hurt her made him start to cry.

"What happened?" Gary asked, even though he'd been standing right there.

"He bit me!"

"You shouldn't let him treat you that way!" he said lamely.

The two of them were talking at once now. Max cried harder.

"You're out of control!" Connie said.

Hearing this was the last straw. Max, putting all his trust in his emotions, turned around and bolted out the door, running out into the night.


	28. 26: Think Like Max

_Last chapter of the year! (Get it? Since it's the last day of 2009...) Happy New Year!_

...

Chapter Twenty-Six: Think Like Max

_This is so boring, _Bella thought as she kept rereading the same sentence in her Economics book. Trying to do homework when she was this upset wasn't the best way to get things done.

She shook her head. Was Max mental or something? She still couldn't believe he jumped up on the island and growled at her and Connie. She was being sarcastic when she had mentioned a wild thing; she hadn't been serious.

Then again, she shouldn't have been complaining. Dousing Gary with wine wasn't a very wise thing to do, even if he was a jerk. And now that she knew that not interfering with things wasn't the way to go, she felt lost and confused about what to do about her big temper and even bigger mouth.

_It's been ten minutes. Maybe I should check if Mom's tamed the beast. _She shut her textbook and started to walk downstairs.

"It's so late out…" she heard Connie say. "How are we going to find him?"

Bella stopped mid-step. She suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach.

"I'm sure he hasn't gone too far," Gary said to Connie.

"He seemed so upset after he bit me…he could be anywhere by now!"

"Maybe he just needs some time to think about things. But if it'll make you feel better, I'll go start up my car and go look for him." He paused. "Should we tell Claire and Isabella—"

"No," Connie interrupted. "Don't tell them. Claire's at a friend's tonight, and she doesn't need a reason to worry and drive home this late. And as for Bella…she may be angry with everyone, but if she hears about this, she'll be heartbroken." She sighed. "Just please find him. I'd rather they never find out about this."

Bella sat down on the stairs, staring numbly at the wall. She really couldn't believe this. All anger that had been in her ebbed away, making room for panic.

Max was gone?

But when?

How?

Why?

She remembered hearing something downstairs a few minutes before…her mother yelping, Max crying, and Gary saying things no one really cared about. After that, Bella had made so much noise sobbing herself, it was impossible to hear anything. And after calming down, she had tried to do her homework to forget about things.

The yelp she had heard from Connie must have been from Max biting her. Gary had probably said something stupid, like how Max was acting wild and Connie was in the right. And Max was so upset with everyone, his actions finally sank into his brain, causing him to cry.

Then he…ran away.

She slowly made her way back to her room. But instead of going there, she took a detour through Max's room. As her fingers passed over his possessions, she recalled an old saying she'd heard once. _You don't realize what you have until it's gone. _She'd lost so many people in her life: her dad, her sister, her mother, her best friend…and now Max.

Blankets covered her younger brother's bed. She carefully climbed through the opening and sat for a moment. This was what he'd been trying to show her. She was so occupied with being selfish and dramatic and carrying out her stupid plan that she'd completely neglected him. How many times had instances like this happened? Ten? Fifteen? Eighty-four? She'd lost count, but knew that the tally was much too high.

Max's stuffed animals watched her with disdain, recognizing her as one of the perpetrators who'd driven their owner away. She allowed them to study her; she wasn't focused on them. She was soaking up the remains of her brother, the ghost of his shadow still lingering in the abandoned fort. How she wished he were there at that moment...to show her this great work of his...to hear how sorry she was for all she'd done...

The plastic eyes became too much. She exited and walked back to her room. She sat at the window seat, staring up at the full moon, trying to wrap her head around everything.

Max was gone.

He was outside.

At night.

Alone.

With who-knows-what prowling around, looking for innocent kids like him to…

Bella shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She needed to be positive.

Everything would be fine. Gary would get in his car and find Max, and then bring him home. Then everything would go back to normal.

But Gary, no matter how many times he would deny it, hardly even knew Max. He didn't know how to think like a nine-year-old, or where his favorite places around the neighborhood were. Gary would be out there all night, driving around in circles, not making any progress.

Gary didn't know Max…like she did.

Bella looked around her room and made up her mind.

If Max was going to be found soon…she'd have to find him herself.

...

She packed her warm jacket, mittens and a scarf, ear muffs, a bag of fish crackers, two bottles of water, her cell phone, her iPod, pepper spray, and a flashlight. She luckily had her knitted boots in her room so she wouldn't have to go downstairs and draw attention to herself.

She was ready.

The hard part now was getting outside.

Bella had never snuck out before. Sure, she had thought about it once or twice in her life, but she had been brought up to know that it was a very risky thing to do. But she also grew up learning that family was important, and that outweighed the dangers of sneaking out.

She opened the window that lead out to the roof. She leaned out as far as she could and dropped the backpack. It fell to the ground, hardly making a sound.

If she had been looking up at her window now, Bella would have thought that the drop wasn't too bad. But now that she was about to jump, she realized that it was much higher than she had previously assumed.

She sat on the window, trying to urge herself off. She was once again afraid of being clumsy and making noise. Connie and Gary would surely then discover her and bring her back inside and tell her to be a good girl and wait until Gary brought Max home.

Max.

She had to do it for Max.

Bella closed her eyes and jumped.

She immediately knew closing her eyes was a bad idea. Although the drop wasn't bad, she hadn't landed on her feet. Instead, she'd inelegantly caught her foot in the gutter, scraped her hands on the pavement, and fell on her backside.

Silence came from the house, followed by footsteps fast approaching the front door. Bella grabbed her backpack and ran to the tree, trying to conceal herself.

She heard the front door open, then close a few seconds later. She peeked around and saw that no one had come out. Letting out a sigh of relief she quickly ran to the end of the street and stood by the streetlight.

Catching her breath, she looked out into the night. There were other streetlights scattered here and there, and some homes had their outside lights on. But even this wasn't enough to comfort her.

Bella had always been scared of the dark, especially the streets at night. She had long ago abandoned all thoughts that a serial killer with a hockey mask and a chainsaw was lurking in her closet, but after being informed by the evening news that gangs hung out on dark streets, she refused to sleep without a nightlight.

Bella hugged the streetlight. She couldn't go out into the blackness. It would swallow her up and she'd never come out again. Someone or something was creeping around, watching her every move, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

_What if that happened to Max?_

The thought struck her like a wrecking ball, and her legs felt numb. If that ever happened to Max…she didn't know what she'd do.

She'd been so horrible to him over the past few months. They all had been, really. All his feelings had been bottled up, and because they never really talked things over, he'd finally been shaken and had exploded. She felt bad that she'd made Max feel this way. And that was why she needed to find him. To set things right not just for her, but for everyone.

She cautiously took one step, and then another, making her way into a world unknown.


	29. 27: Hitting The Streets

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hitting The Streets

Max awoke to the rosy light of dawn on the horizon. He sighed, knowing that today would be like its many predecessors.

After bolting out the door, he'd bolted into the forest and found a boat at the shore of the lake. He got in and sailed away with a second thought about it.

He'd been sailing for days, weeks, months even, he was sure. He stared at the endless stretch of ocean as he carved his name into the side of the boat with a loose nail. The never-ending hours of being in that tiny boat were getting to be unbearable.

He'd tried to keep himself entertained, but it was difficult. His mind always wandered back to what had happened that night when he'd gone insane: his mother's horrified face; Gary's awkward words; and Bella's cruel actions. Claire hadn't even been there, but just the basic memory of her had been looming over the house. They all hated him, and he was glad that they wouldn't have to be bothered with him anymore.

Max started to hum impulsively. It was slow and sad, yet had power and beauty. He couldn't remember where he'd heard it before; maybe someone had taught it to him a long time ago…

It reminded him of when Bella had taught him to fly. That day had been amazing; it was when he knew that his friendship with his older sister was real, and that she was going to be a loyal friend to him. Even though it'd been a while ago, he felt as if it had just happened recently.

Max shrugged to himself. He didn't have much else to do. And no one would be watching him, waiting for him to fail, as there always seemed to be. So he stood up, went to the bow of the boat, spread out his arms and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, adrenaline rushed to the pit of his stomach. The wind blew past him, spraying him with salt. His head went back and he let the sun warm his face, feeling free.

_She was right_, he thought grudgingly. _This still feels amazing_. He stood for a moment longer, reveling in the freeness he felt.

When he opened his eyes, he saw something that was like drinking cold water on a hot day: land. He turned his boat towards the speck on the horizon, hopeful for the first time since he'd embarked on his journey.

...

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part III**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_Despite the fact that what Max just said makes me feel like I've been hit in the stomach with a huge kickball, I ignore his remark about me hating him. I focus on making myself known to the creatures...monsters...whatever they are._

_"You're a vampire?" asks the one that looks like a rooster._

_"Uh…I guess." Even as I speak, I can feel two sharp teeth in my mouth. _

_Fangs._

_"You feed on humans or animals?" the one with the horn on her nose asks. Her voice is sharp; I can tell that if I answer wrong, things won't be good._

_"Um…both?" I take a stab at it, not knowing what to say._

_Max scoffs. "Yeah. She hunts all the time. She's a vicious, bloodthirsty killer!"_

_The beasts all stare at me for a minute before going up in roars and chatter. It sounds like they think I'm pretty cool._

_"Wow, Max!" the striped one says. "You're sister's amazing!"_

_Max glares at me, folding his arms and shaking his head._

_"We should introduce ourselves. I'm Carol," the striped one tells me. _

_"I'm Douglas," the rooster says, sticking out his…paw (?) for me to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."_

_"I'm Ira," a big, bulky gray one says. "I put holes in the trees. This is Judith."_

_"Hey," the one with the horn says casually. "I'm sort of a downer, so don't get offended if I say something rude."_

_"I-I'm Alexander," says the small goat thing. He's shaking like crazy, like he's cold or something._

_The one with human feet and the face of a bull grunts. "That's…that's the Bull," Carol introduces. "He doesn't say much."_

Obviously_, I think to myself. I mean, all he does is makes noises._

_"I'm KW," says the last one. She has red hair and kind eyes. Her nose looks a lot like Carol's. I can tell she's a very gentle creature._

_Max steps in front of me. "Okay. Now we've all met. Can she please leave now?"_

_"What's the big rush?" Carol asks._

_"Yeah, what's the deal, King?" Judith inquires. "She's your sister. She's just as powerful as you…right?"_

_Max slumps his shoulders in defeat. "Yeah. Whatever."_

_The beasts – wild things, I guess is more accurate – go up in cheers again. They raise Max on their shoulders and I try to keep up._

_"This is gonna be great!" Carol says, clearly excited. "We've got a king, and we've got a vampire. Now things are gonna be okay."_

...

He wasn't at the playground. But even she had seen that coming.

All the same, Bella looked everywhere on the premises: the jungle gym tubes, the slides, the forest bordering one side. She grabbed her backpack and headed off to the next place – whatever that place may be.

She didn't get it. He wasn't on the bench on the corner of Cypress St. with the ING logo; he hadn't been in any of the neighbors' yards (or houses, for that matter; she'd been extra sneaky in peeking in the windows); and he definitely wasn't staked out under any of the parked cars lined up along the curb. She wanted to go back and check in her tree house, but her instincts told her that Max wasn't hiding there.

_Where could he be? _She was beginning to worry. It'd been a half hour, and she was sure she'd have found him by now. What if he really was kidnapped? Or worse?

Something kept nagging at the very back corner of her brain. It persisted in telling her that Max wouldn't be anywhere she looked. He was no longer in this world…

She stopped herself. He wasn't dead. She was sure of that. He was a strong kid. They'd taken a karate class for a while, and he'd been a fast learner. He was probably doing a lot better than she was right now.

Bella remembered her weird dream that she kept having. Something about it just seemed so real…all those wild things…and her brother being upset with her…

_Max is with the friendly wild things, _she thought as she went off down the street. _They'll take care of each other…wherever they are…_


	30. 28: Unexpected Strength

_Hey, y'all! Agh, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update! I'm back at school, and finals/really difficult math tests are creeping up on me pretty soon. And school always comes first...with the exception of family. Anyway, with that plus extra carriculars AND a bunch of other stuff, I'll probably hold off on posting in a couple weeks. _

_Oh...and the scene with KW and Max...I got the dialogue from a YouTube video (it was a scene from the movie). I can't remember who posted it, but thanks whoever did!_

...

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Unexpected Strength

Max waited…and waited…and waited. Sleep just wasn't in his system at the moment. He felt buzzed and energized, as if he'd just consumed a gallon of Mountain Dew.

He was in the middle of a pile – a huge, _furry _pile. These were his new subjects, creatures that he identified as wild things. He'd live with them, and they'd play nicely (and wildly). But most of all, they'd care for each other, like friends were supposed to.

Max recalled the memories of the past few hours in his head. He'd arrived on the shore of the island at sundown, tying his boat to some nearby rocks. He'd then scaled a dangerously tall cliff, following a trickle of smoke that was hanging in the air. It had led him to a clearing, where various fires were burning and the wild things had been.

They appeared to be smashing nest-like structures, and Max, the wild thing in him coming forth, had rushed forward and joined in. The biggest one, a striped beast named Carol, had enjoyed his enthusiasm. The others, however, were much less forgiving. They told Max that the nests were their homes, and because he'd ruined them, it made him fit to be eaten.

Max, in a moment of genius, prevented the wild things from eating him. He'd bluffed about being a king from another land with magic powers, and that he was strong enough to keep the group together. The beasts had been impressed, and crowned him king.

After that, everything had been fast-paced. Max had declared a wild rumpus, and that's exactly what had happened. They howled, they ran, they smashed into trees; the beasts had executed anything Max commanded of them. It was exhilarating, but it was tiresome. Which was why they were now in a pile, resting.

It hadn't been comfortable at first, though. Max was at the bottom, a canopy of fur overhead. That, and his foot was painfully stuck under someone's leg, causing his toes to fall asleep. He'd tried to pull it free, but it was useless. These beasts outweighed him by tons.

"Need help there?"

Max turned his head to see one of the creatures watching him. It was KW, the wild thing with the soft eyes and the iron-straight red hair. There was a quality of secrecy about her. He didn't know much about this creature, but she seemed kind, willing to listen.

"Yeah," Max said, answering her question. "My foot's stuck."

"I see that. Hang on." She effortlessly pushed the leg off. "There you go."

Max smiled as his foot woke up. "Thanks." He was still in awe at the beasts' strength.

"I'm KW," she said.

"I'm Max," Max said.

"So, what's your story?" she asked him. "Why'd you come here?"

Max had to think for a second. Telling KW about why he was really here would seem too…boring. Like she really wanted to hear about that.

"Well…" Max said, thinking on his feet. "Well, I'm an explorer, and I travel a lot."

"Mmm." She seemed to be buying it.

"And…I travel by sea."

"Right…"

"I used to travel by air."

"So obviously you have no home or family," KW concluded.

It always came back to that. Max saw no way around talking about it. He wondered if his family was missing him…he'd been away for so long.

He sighed. "I have one of those, but…" Max trailed off, remembering what had happened that fateful night.

"But you ate them all?" KW supplied when Max didn't talk for a few seconds.

"No!" Max was startled. "No, I just bit one of them is all, and…I went crazy." After a long pause, he added, "I don't like frozen corn."

Maybe he could have been a bit more…understanding. Maybe he could've turned it down a notch and not been so…wild. Connie would've appreciated that a lot more, obviously. And, as much as he hated to admit it, acting civilized could have saved Gary from looking so out of place. And Bella would have—

Bella. He had forgotten about her. She was probably still in her room, not even knowing – not even _caring_ – that he was gone.

"And…living with a vampire for a sister's a bit of a challenge," he finished.

KW looked sad. "Oh. I'm sorry if that's the way you lived."

_But it's partly my fault…I acted horribly…_

"I act like I'm a bad person," he said, thinking out loud, his face matching his depressed state of mind.

"Are you?"

"I don't know." Bella's harsh words were still plaguing his mind. _Go ahead and be a wild thing…you're not mine anymore…_ "I don't know."

"Well…_I'm_ glad you came," KW said, smiling. "It'll be good to have someone around here who doesn't eat everybody."

_I'm guessing that happens a lot, then…_Max thought, a smile of his own tugging at his mouth.

"I mean, you just bite everyone. But biters aren't so bad. Eaters are the ones I just can't stand."

"I have no plans to eat anybody," Max assured her.

"All right, good," KW giggled. "Good night."

...

Max had wormed his way through the heap until he was at an opening. He stuck his head out so he could breathe, and so he could gather his thoughts. And here he was, reliving events he was sure he'd never forget.

_This is the best day ever, _he thought as he finally drifted off to sleep.

...

Bella sat on a street corner bench, trying to think of her next move. So far the temperature had continued to grow colder, and Bella felt as if her face was frozen.

But she wasn't going home, no matter how cold it got. It was going to take a lot more than sub-zero temperatures to make her head back home. She was going to find Max…wherever he was.

Headlights were visible from the next street over. _That's weird, _she thought, her brow furrowing. Who was out here this late at night? No one in their right mind would be outside in this weather. Keeping this in mind, she went to investigate.

There was a car parked along the side of the road, the driver's door open. The streetlights were off on that street, and although the headlights lit up the front of the car, it was hard to make out the rest of it. But by the full moon, she could see the silhouette of a person near the vehicle.

_That's got to be the driver._

A sick feeling came over her, and she had the desire to get out of there. Gripping her backpack straps tighter, she turned to walk away.

"Hey!"

The person had called to her. It wasn't a voice she recognized. It sounded agitated. She picked up her pace.

"Hey!"

It was a man. _Oh, God. _

She felt a pressure on her arm. She turned and saw, from the light of the moon, that there were fingers enclosed around it. She refused to look at the face of this guy; she knew that if she did, she'd have nightmares about it for the rest of her life.

_Think, Bella! DO SOMETHING!_

"You're not getting away that easily," the man said.

She panicked, but in that moment of terror, she found her solution. Her foot moved by itself, somehow, and connected with the man's shin. He let go to hold his leg, and she was off.

_Run, Bella. Just run._

He must have recovered faster than she'd thought he would, because there he was, grasping her arm again. She kicked him, but she was too slow this time in her getaway. From the ground, he held onto her foot, and down she went onto the pavement. Out of her backpack came the fish crackers, a bottle of water, the flashlight, and the pepper spray.

"You're too slow, little Philly," the man said, trying to catch his breath.

_Seriously? _She grabbed the nearest thing to her, which happened to be the pepper spray. She aimed the nozzle in his face and pressed the button.

He let go in a second. She quickly gathered the scattered items and put them back in her backpack before running for her life. She could hear him cursing as she rounded the corner.

She didn't slow down, because she knew that he'd be following her. And she was right. She saw the lights illuminating the path before her. _Faster. You have to go faster._

And faster she went.

She easily hid in the shadows of a dark street, and to her relief, the car roared past. But she still didn't feel safe. She took out her flashlight and sprinted down the street, distancing herself as far as she could from the assaulter.

And even when she knew he was probably gone, she didn't stop. The stakes had just been raised, and now she was more determined than ever to find her younger brother.

What she didn't know was that her troubles that night were far from over.


	31. A Note from the Author

Hey, everyone! OMG I have some bad news. My computer has yet another virus (this being the third time)! My mom's taking it in, but I don't know when I'll be able to post anything. I'm typing this from a school laptop, and if anyone finds out I posted this from school property, I'm in HUGE trouble (cuz we're supposed to be working on a Spanish project LOL). I hope to get some computer access this weekend somewhere, and if I don't post for a while, you now know why. I feel so bad that I can't do anything, but please know that I'll do whatever I can to update. Thanks for everyone who's reviewing! You guys are amazing! And I promise I'll try to update soon!

~Elphie


	32. 29: The Search Continues

_Hey! I'm at the library, getting computer access! And I may get some more this weekend! WHOO! So, anyway, since I haven't typed in a while, I made sure to make this one long! Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Search Continues

_Geez! You'd think they'd put some salt out here! _Bella thought as she slipped, once again, on a patch of ice. The rain that had fallen earlier had melted most of the snow, but it had also left ice all over the place. The neighborhood where she was currently located had been hit pretty hard, and every few steps she found herself sliding and trying to keep her balance.

Well, better that than being persued by Crazy Guy. She'd run into him twice already after their first encounter. She'd made sure she was hidden, though; as far as he knew, she was safe at home, never again to walk the streets at night. She was determined not to have another episode with him.

To keep her mind from the chilling thought, she forced her thoughts onto other, more important matters:

_Max..._

_I feel bad about...X_

_Things just happen sometimes, and...X_

_I just wanna say that...X_

_UGH! _Bella kicked a nearby snowbank, and once again found herself struggling to stay on both of her feet. She hadn't expected that making up a speech would be this hard.

When she found Max - _if _she found him - she planned to apologize profusely. First she'd express how happy she was to see him; then she'd get into the wrongdoings she was sorry for; and finally, she'd sit back and pray that Max would forgive her.

Would he want to, though? His attitude lately clearly explained that he wasn't thrilled to be her brother. Maybe, when she found him, he would refuse to return home with her. Maybe he'd found someplace better to call home. She felt pained at the thought, but figured that anyplace was better than their home life...at least, until everything got straightened out.

_I wish I could be wherever you are right now, Max...it'd be a huge improvment from this..._ She shivered, trudging along the slush-covered and ice-lined sidewalk.

She suddenly had a strange feeling. It felt as if she knew what Max was up to at that moment. He was...putting his creative mind to work. He was going to build something...perhaps a fort of sorts.

That wouldn't end well. Based on the past two days, forts didn't exactly go hand-in-hand with Max. Both attempts had ended in failure. She hoped this potential third wouldn't end the same.

_Goodness, Max...you'd better not get yourself into too much trouble...I don't know what I'd do if that happened..._

...

**My Weird, Crazy Dream - Part IV**

**As told in 1st Person by Bella Carson**

_The wild things, Max and I rumpus for a while, then fall asleep in a huge pile. Only dream sleep lasts for, like, two seconds in my dreams. So one minute, I'm sleeping, and the next, the wild thing called KW is shaking me awake. We walk through the woods to the part of the island with rocks and stuff like that. In the middle of it all is a huge fort - a structure that the eight of them have built._

_It's phenomenal. The outside looks like a giant bird's nest, with thousands of sticks and twigs woven together. There's a tall, cresent-moon structure near the fort that serves as a look-out post. The inside of the main building is roomy and spacious, with underground tunnels running under the front room._

_A door on the right side of the room catches my eye. It looks small and secretive - definitely an invention of Max's._

_"What's that?" I ask._

_This is obviously not a topic the wild things like to discuss. They grow uneasy and exchange anxious looks. _

_"It's a secret door," Max answers quietly. I notice that he also looks a bit off-color. "A secret door for the king."_

_"Oh." I stare at the opening for a while. "Why do you need a secret door?"_

_"He claims he needs time away from us," Carol offers bitterly, glaring at Max. _

_"Really?" I'm not surprised. These things are big, and so are their teeth and claws. Although they look cuddly, I'm still a bit wary of their tempers. _

_"Yeah. Apparently the king doesn't like us anymore," Judith puts in._

_"I never said that..." Max says._

_"Implying it with a secret door is just as bad," Judith shoots back, folding her arms. I notice that Ira, the bulb-nosed one, is knawing on her._

_"You know what? You're secret door isn't big enough, King," Carol says. He walks over and angrily plunges his claw into the hole, making it bigger._

_"Is that big enough for you?" The hurt in his eyes is almost unbearable._

_Max only stares at the ground. The wild things grumble and trudge away, exiting the fort._

_I start to follow them when I hear sniffling. Max has climbed into that secret door of his and is now crying. _

_"Max?" I stand at the hole, peering in._

_He looks up at me. "Go away."_

_"Max, I'm not leaving. Not when you're upset." I pause, contemplaing the situation. "They don't like secrets, do they?"_

_Max shakes his head. "It's so hard to please everyone. Carol likes it when I spend time alone with him, but the others get angry when I do that. Judith thinks I'm playing favorites, Ira needs something other than her arm to chew on, and..." He trails off, disolving in his tears._

_I climb into the hole and hold him close. "It's okay, Max."_

_He looks up at me. "I don't want to be king anymore. I want to go home."_

...

Max was in a bad mood. Well, he hadn't been five minutes ago. Five minutes ago he was helping Carol put flowers onto the awesome fort that they and the other wild things were building together. Max had taken Carol's claw and carved an "M" in the side of the fort, for Max; to declare to the world that he was the ruler of this fort. After that, Carol had drawn a heart around the "M", to show that the wild things would always love their king.

Max didn't think his day could get any better than that.

In truth, it couldn't; it was going to get worse. Judith had called him over and was now questioning his motives, while Ira knawed on her arm.

"I don't like the way you're ruling us, Max," she told him. "I think you're playing favorites."

"What makes you say that?" He wouldn't meet her eyes; he wasn't going to admit that that was true.

"Well, you're always off with Carol. Why don't you go off with me? Or with-STOP." She yanked her arm away from Ira's mouth.

Max wasn't going to answer that. "I think I'm doing fine."

She scoffed, laughing her annoying laugh. Max laughed right back at her, mocking her. They continued like this, taking turns laughing at each other, mocking each other. After Max had done the loudest laugh he could muster, Judith gasped.

"What?" Max asked her.

"You're not supposed to do that; you're the king." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're supposed to care for us. If I wanna go off and spend time with you, you say, 'Okay, Judith'. And if I get hungry, you have to say, 'Okay, Judith. I love you, so it's okay if you eat me'."

_Where's Bella the Vampire when you need her? _Max thought as he took in what Judith said.

Suddenly, he felt someone beside him. "Come on, Max," KW said. "Let's go get some sticks."

Max gratefully turned to follow KW, when Judith grabbed ahold of his foot.

"You'd better have heard what I just said, King," she said as quietly as she could (**LOL you guys know that Judith is always loud, so this task is kinda hard for her...**).

KW stepped on Judith's paw, and she let go. "Yeah," KW said, annoyed. "Everyone _always_ hears you, Judith."

...

"Thanks for that," Max said. They were ten minutes into walking through the desert.

"No problem." KW had been quiet, looking thoughtful.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No. I was just thinking about what you told me the first night you were here. About your sister."

_Me and my big mouth. _Max didn't want to talk about his sister, but at the same time had been wishing someoen would bring her up.

"Yeah. Is she really a vampire?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. She's got the sharpest fangs ever. And she can eat both humans _and _animals."

KW's yellow eyes went wide. "Wow. She must be some vampire."

Max nodded. "She's the fastest, strongest, smartest vampire there is. And she's really pretty, too. She's even better than...than...Edward Cullen!"

"Who's that?"

Max shrugged. "Some other vampire who thinks he's all that. He's really annoying. My sister and him have duels all the time. And she wins."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Max was getting excited now. "The last time they dueled, she poured a whole bucket of blood over his head! He was really angry with her, but it was so cool. I think he's still got bloodstains in his hair."

"She sounds like an interesting person," KW said, smiling. "You should invite her to visit sometime."

"Oh, yeah...I should." Max walked on, suddenly realizing that there was a hole in his heart that hadn't been there before.

And he was surprised that he knew that it wouldn't be filled until he saw his family again.


	33. Another Note from the Author

Hey everyone! OMG I'm sorry I'm taking so long to update...again! Our computer is (possibly) fixed, but my mom still needs to call and see when we can pick it up. Also, I'm not so sure I want to go near that thing for a while, considering I'm the one who broke it....Anyway, just wanted to give you guys an update. I may be able to get access this weekend, but I'm not sure becaue I'm gonna be busy with theater committments and family matters (not to mention seeing Percy Jackson on Monday since the libraries are closed...XP). Hang in there! I promise to get the next chapter on as soon as I can!

Oh! I just created a new poll on my profile page, too! You guys can vote, if you want...I'm debating if I should create a new arch in the story, but I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide. Please vote!

Happy Valentine's Day! =)

~Elphie


	34. 30: The Other Bella

_Hey! I'm back! I hope this chapter doesn't mess anything up...if it does, I can always go back and change it._

_P.S. The outfit Bella the Vampire wears is, obviously, the one Bella wears in _New Moon_. I thought it was cute, so I had her wear it._

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Thirty: The Other Bella

Max still couldn't believe this. KW was standing in front of him, with two of the cutest owls he had ever seen. They were white, with huge yellow eyes and sweet little hoots that came from their beaks.

These were the infamous Bob and Terry.

"You really think they'll help make the fort better?" Max asked.

"I know they will!" KW said brightly. "They have an answer for _everything_. Only…"

"Only what?"

"Well, you have to remember to ask your question in exactly seven words."

"Oh. Right." Max remembered asking them a question a few minutes before and keeping track of the words on his fingers. He wasn't sure if he liked asking everything in only seven words.

"You wanna go live in the fort?" KW asked the owls.

"Meep!" said Bob.

"Meep!" said Terry.

"Good!" KW said. "Let's go!" She was about to lead the way back when she stopped and looked down the beach.

"What? What is it, KW?"

"There's something coming toward us," she said simply.

Max looked to where KW was watching. Sure enough, there was something coming up the beach. Max backed up, somewhat fearful of what it was.

"It…looks like a person," KW noted. "Like you, Max."

Max realized that KW was right. Walking towards them was a human girl. And…she looked really familiar somehow.

Her hair was dark brown and fell a bit past her shoulders. Her eyes, from where he stood, looked hazel. She wore a green dress accentuated with black flowers, a black sweater, and black tennis shoes, similar to the ones he wore. Her skin was very pale, and seemed to glow in the sunlight.

"Hello," she said when she reached them. Max thought he was dreaming, but for a second he had seen fangs in her mouth.

"Hi," said KW. Bob and Terry hooted their greetings.

Max was at a loss for words. He now knew who this was. She'd been in a countless number of his drawings, co-starred with his alter egos in stories he would make up. She'd been locked up in his mind for who knew how long. And now here she was, standing right in front of him.

"I'm Bella," the girl said. "Bella the Vampire."

"Oh, Max, is this your sister?" KW asked him excitedly.

Max nodded. "Yeah. This is…this is my sister."

Bella gave him a funny look. "You told her I was your sister?"

Max nodded again. "Yeah…I did."

She processed this information and turned back to KW. "Yes. I'm his sister."

"I'm KW," KW said. "And these are my friends, Bob and Terry."

"They're so cute!" Bella squealed, scratching the owls on their heads.

"We were just heading back to our fort," KW informed her. "Would you like to come with us?"

"I would love to. Thanks," Bella said.

"Let's go, then." KW took the lead and started walking towards the desert, Bella and Max trailing behind.

"It's good to stretch my legs," Bella commented.

"Yeah," Max said vaguely.

"You know, since I've been locked up for so long."

Max looked at his feet. "Sorry about that. I didn't want to, but…my sister—"

"Your _real _sister?"

"Right. Look, I just told KW that because...because it seemed more interesting if she were you than if she were...herself."

"So you lied?"

"No...well...maybe..." She was putting words into his mouth, and he didn't like it.

"I can see you've already stretched the truth enough, but don't do it again." She sighed. "Anyway, so your real sister - the real Bella - what didn't she like?"

"She didn't like that stuff anymore. The vampire stuff. Those books ruined it for her, she even said so. I wanted to keep her happy."

"Oh." Bella seemed to understand. "Why would you let something like that hold you back?"

"I don't know. It's…complicated."

"How do you think I felt about it? Being locked away in your mind for four years?"

Max gulped. "It's…not that fun in there?"

She shrugged. "You have your good days and you have your bad. Mostly there've been bad days. Bad thoughts, bad plans…and I see your mom and your sisters a lot when you think like that."

Max didn't say anything to that, feeling guilty about the things he'd thought about Connie, Claire and Bella.

"Kind of hard being a family, right?" Bella asked him.

Max glared at her. "So what made you decide to finally break free?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I'm here for two reasons. The first is that you miss your family. I know you do. So when you were talking to KW about me earlier and started to realize that you really were longing to go back home, I was released to help ease your homesickness."

"I'm not homesick," Max lied.

Bella shrugged. "Okay."

"What's the second reason?"

"I wanted some time away from my clan. They just kicked out one of our vampires because all his teeth fell out."

Max felt a cold rush chill him. "Really?"

"I wanted him to stay, but I was overruled by everyone else, and we haven't seen him since. I can't believe they'd do that to him."

"Vampires can be cruel like that sometimes," Max said quickly. "You should know."

Bella stared coldly at him. Max realized he'd offended her.

"Sorry," he said to the sand, unable to meet her eyes. "I didn't mean…"

"I know what you meant," she said. "I'm still a bit touchy after what the others said when I took my leave." Her eyes hardened. "They called me a coward and a softy, and that I cannot possibly be a vampire because I'm too sensitive." She shook her head and sighed.

"I can change them, if you want," Max offered. "I created them, I can just as easily make them nice."

Bella shook her head. "You don't have to do that. Besides, I'm not here just for me. I'm here mostly because of you."

Max's eyebrows came together in confusion. "Why me?"

"I'm worried about you. Or should I say, your sister is worried about you. Since you made me in her image, I have a connection with her, and I can feel her emotions. She's very concerned that you're in trouble."

"Yeah right," Max scoffed. "She's probably grateful that I'm gone."

Bella's face went slack and her tone softened. "I'm not kidding around, Max. She really is fretting about you."

Max laughed. "'Fretting'? What kind of word is that?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Okay, so maybe my vocabulary isn't all that modern. But you get my point. I wouldn't be surprised if she's out looking for you."

"Sure she is," Max said, running to catch up with KW. Bella had no choice but to close the subject for the moment and follow them.

...

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part V**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_Later that day, I find Carol sitting by himself, overlooking the sea. I tentatively walk up to him, afraid that he might thrash out at me._

_"Hi, Carol," I say._

_He turns to me. "Oh. It's you." He turns back to the ocean. "I thought it was Max."_

_I sit down next to him. "You know, Max isn't all that bad."_

_He snorts. "I'll bet he told you to say that."_

_I shook my head. "He didn't." I sigh. "Carol…you have to realize that he's just a kid. He can't do everything you ask of him."_

_"But he's the king!" Carol protests. "He's supposed to have all these magical powers and he said that he would help us stay together!"_

Max, you're such an idiot, _I think._

_"I know he promised all that stuff to you. But…he expects as much from you as you do from him."_

_Carol looked at me. "I…I never thought about it that way." His eyes become sad. "I guess he really isn't all that good of a king."_

_I shrug. "Well, I can't comment because haven't been here for even a whole day."_

_"Is he this bad at home?"_

_I take a while to answer this. "He's very impulsive," I finally say. "But he's not a bad person. I just think that maybe if we all calmed down…we could figure something out."_

_Carol looks wary. "I don't know…"_

_"Think about it?"_

_Carol reluctantly nods. "Okay. I'll think about it."_

_"I know it's difficult," I say. "But we can't lose faith in him now."_

_At this, Carol grunts and once again looks unsure. I realize that persuading him further won't do any good, so I get up and go off by myself, wondering what to do next. While I do this, I hear an argument that the others are having, and it's pretty brutal. I even hear some physical violence taking place. This sparks in me a solution, and I race back to the fort. I now know what Max and I must do._


	35. 31: Trouble on the Home Front

Chapter Thirty-One: Trouble on the Home Front

_Wait…does that Lovejoy guy end up getting off the ship? Wasn't he with Cal? He had to be…but then they got separated, I think…and then he somehow got blood all over his face. Yeah! And then when the boat split in half, he falls through the hole! So he technically did get off the ship…but then he dies._

Bella shook her head, trying to clear the mental image of a middle-aged weirdo falling into the icy depths of the ocean. Death was one thing she definitely didn't need floating around in her mind at the moment.

She had to admit, _Titanic _was pretty amazing. There was a perfect balance of historical events woven into the story of Jack and Rose. It somehow always had her rapt attention; no matter what was going on in her life, she could always count on that movie to help her through the rough spots.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Why was she thinking about a ship? She kicked some snow in front of the bench, watching it turn to water on her boots. Her little brother was still out there. She didn't know how long she'd been searching…surely the sun would rise any moment now. Or perhaps it had only been a few minutes, the fear of anxiety stretching it out to seem like hours.

_Think about something else…you can't worry forever…_

She conceded with herself. Thinking about other things wouldn't hurt, right? It would help her with the frustration she felt towards not finding her brother as quick as she'd thought. And something like that wasn't going to harm anyone.

What had she been thinking about? Oh, right. The movie. She loved the movie. But she didn't love James Cameron, the director. For a while, she'd thought he was pretty cool. But then came the fateful day she'd heard on the radio that he was a jerk and had been married about six times. He was very demanding, and had called Kate Winslet "Kate Weighs-A-Lot" to her face when she hadn't fit into a size 0 dress for _Titanic_.

Claire had claimed she'd known his true self all along. "It's all the same with celebrities," she'd said. "Everyone in that business is cracked."

Bella had then pointed out that Claire had a huge crush on people like Channing Tatum and Sterling Knight. "So?" Claire had asked. "I think they're hot. Big deal. Just because I have a crush on them doesn't mean I ever want to date them."

Suddenly Bella missed her sister's snide comments. What would she say when she came home tomorrow and found out that Max had run away? Would she even care? She would have to. Max was her brother. Even if Claire couldn't stand him most of the time, she'd have to be a tiny bit concerned that he'd left.

All this wondering was making Bella weary and hungry at the same time. She had already downed all her fish crackers and one-and-a-half bottles of water. She couldn't go back home until she found Max, so she had to ration out the remaining half-bottle.

Bella looked at her watch and decided to work out exactly how long she'd been out here. It was eight-thirty right now. Dinner would have been at seven. Max had started to cause chaos at six-fortyish, and had run away around six-fifty-fiveish. She'd probably left the house at around seven-ten or seven-fifteen. So she'd been searching for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. It hadn't seemed all that long before. But then again, she'd been weighed down with thoughts of what had happened at home.

She suddenly felt like kicking herself. What had made her act so stupid to everyone? Life would have been much easier if she hadn't decided to make up plans and act like a moron. If she hadn't done all that, maybe she wouldn't be out here in the dead of night in the middle of winter, searching frantically for the one person in her life who truly understood her.

_Wow…that's some deep stuff. Maybe I should write a book or something…_

The street was alight with white and orange. Bella turned to her left. Coming down the street was a car. She couldn't really tell what kind of car it was, but it seemed familiar…

"I knew I'd find you…" said a voice from the open window.

Bella felt her blood run cold. It couldn't be…

"Now get in the car like a good girl," the man said, his face obscured in the darkness.

She had ditched him a while ago, she was sure of it. How had he caught up? It didn't make any sense to her.

"Get in the car, and maybe I'll be nice," the man said. She could tell he was getting angry.

Bella sat, dumbstruck. What should she do? She couldn't get in that car. That much was clear. But what would happen if she didn't? Should she call the police? Should she run and tell one of the neighbors?

"Just get in the car!" He began to unbuckle his seatbelt.

_You gotta think, Bella…he's getting out of the car!_

She reached into her backpack and pulled out the first thing that her hands grabbed. A few seconds later, her half-full water bottle was knocking the guy in the face.

Bella didn't hang around long enough to revel in the guy's injury. She started to run, making sure she got as far as she could before ducking around a corner.

Once again, the car didn't seem to follow her. But she wasn't going to take any chances. She again tried to distance herself as far as she could from the car, hoping that she wouldn't run into it again that night.

...

Max jumped over the sand dunes and found Carol sitting on the beach. There were a million things he wanted to say to his friend, but he didn't know where to start, exactly.

He was sure that bringing the owls – and the addition of Bella – to the fort wouldn't cause a lot of problems. Bob and Terry were KW's friends, and they seemed…interesting enough. And Bella was something out of his mind, his own creation; it was only right that she be let in.

Boy, had he been wrong.

The others had thought Bob and Terry were very adorable, and Bella was easily a favorite. Even Judith, who was always hard to please, definitely thought the newcomers were something special.

It had all gone smoothly. Until Carol opened his mouth.

"Max," he'd said conversationally, "I think the fort's broken."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I thought you said that if someone we didn't like came in here, the fort would automatically cut their brains out." Carol looked at him as if expecting Max to will the fort to detach the three brains on the spot.

"Well…it's okay that they're in here," Max said. "I want them in here, so their brains don't have to be cut out." It was lame, but he didn't know how else to clarify things. To make matters worse, Carol shortly left in a huff, leaving a very awkward mood over everyone.

Max had forgotten that Carol was easily threatened by outsiders, and also wasn't too thrilled that KW had friends other than him and the others. Why hadn't he remembered? He could have saved that whole confrontation if he hadn't been so forgetful.

Bella was on his case the minute Carol was gone. She had pulled him outside and given it right to him.

"Why didn't you mention that Carol has issues with new people?" she demanded.

"I…I didn't think it'd be a problem," Max said honestly.

"Oh, of course you didn't." She heaved a sigh and folded her arms across her chest. "Max, I swear…sometimes…you don't think."

"Well…maybe I could think if you weren't hounding me about things!" Max shot back. "I don't need your input. You're just a figment of my imagination! I wish I'd never let you out!"

Bella just stared at him. "Okay, then. I'll...I can just leave. And not come back."

"Fine. Go ahead. This is exactly why I left in the first place. No one ever listens to me! Everyone always blames me for everything! And now you're doing it, too! You're just as bad as she is!"

With that, he'd taken off, knowing that if he stayed, he'd say even more things that would be much better off unspoken.

Now he cautiously approached Carol, who was covered in sand and wearing one of the saddest expressions Max had ever seen.

"I can't believe KW," Carol said, apparently noticing Max's presence. "I mean…what does she see in those bird things? They're so…weird!" He looked at Max. "I couldn't understand a word they said."

"It's okay," Max said. "I really couldn't understand them, either."

"And…and what about that…leech thing?" Carol accused. "How do you know she doesn't eat creatures like us?"

Despite his anger for her, Max knew Bella didn't deserve to be called a leech. "She told me she doesn't hunt creatures like you. She's friends with your kind."

Carol didn't seem convinced. "You're gonna help us, right, Max? You're gonna fix everything, aren't you?"

Max was prepared to answer this question. While searching for Carol's whereabouts, he'd come up with a brilliant idea to try out on his new friends.

"Of course," Max said, smiling at his idea. "I know exactly what to do."


	36. 32: Vampires Are Breakable

_Hey! Here's a chapter that's totally dedicated to a crucial part of Bella's weird, crazy dream! Enjoy!_

_P.S. Some of the ideas/themes came, once again, from _The Wild Things _by Dave Eggers. And I don't own that. _

...

Chapter Thirty-Two: Vampire Are Breakable

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part VI**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_Well, I can't really tell Max what the plan is, because the wild things could be listening. And if they hear me, I know they won't be very happy. They'll probably get so angry, they'll try to eat me, like they did in the first part of my dream._

_So all I can do is go to bed by the fire in the fort, troubled by the huge creatures surrounding my brother and I. I'm having a dream within a dream (ha, that sounds weird) about Max sailing in his boat when I jolt awake._

_"Wake up, everyone! Wake up! Get out here!"_

_It's Carol. He's acting really, really strange. Like he's scared of something._

_Everyone gathers to where Carol is standing. He's looking up at the sky. "It's not there! It's supposed to be right there!"_

_"What is?" Ira asks sleepily._

_"The sun! It's not there!"_

_The wild things look at each other like Carol's gone insane. I glance at Max, who's become considerably paler…_

_And then I remember. That one day he told us that he'd learned in school that the sun was going to die someday. I wasn't here when it happened, but I'm pretty sure that Max passed this information on to Carol. Not the smartest idea._

_"I think it's still nighttime," Douglas gently explains._

_"No! I've been up all night! It's morning!" Carol insisted. _

_"But…but it's still dark out," Alexander said._

_"That's the point! It's morning, but where's the sun?"_

_"Maybe it's late?" suggested Douglas._

_"Or hiding from you," Judith mumbles._

_"That's stupid! The sun is never late! You know what I think? It's…it's dead!"_

_Oh, no. Now things are gonna get ugly._

_"That's not gonna happen for a very, very long time!" Max said, but I can see him starting to worry that the sun really is dead. (I don't know...it's a dream, so for all I know, something crazy like that really did happen.)_

_"This is all your fault, Max!" Carol shouts. "You're a terrible king!"_

_"He's not a king," Douglas says quietly._

_Carol whips around. "What?"_

_"He's not a king," Douglas repeats._

_I stare at Douglas in disbelief. Why is he doing this now? He's just making things worse. I make my way over to Max, just in case I have to intervene._

_"You're lying!" Carol says._

_"No, I'm not. He's just a boy pretending to be a wolf pretending to be a king."_

Stop, Douglas_, I plead in my mind. Too bad I don't have telepathy or whatever._

_"You're lying! Everyone's lying! AAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Carol runs at Douglas and rips his arm right off! Instead of blood coming out, sand pours forth._

_"Carol, look what you did!" Douglas says. He doesn't sound very angry at all. "That was my favorite arm!"_

_Carol looks confused, but that's quickly replaced with a look of dawning comprehension as he glares at Max. "You did this!"_

_"Me?" I can feel Max start to tremble beside me._

_"Is this what you wanted?" Carol asks forcefully. "Did you want the sun to die? Did you want to make secret doors? Did you want a bloodsucker to come to the island?"_

_At this remark I can't help myself. I bare my fangs and arch protectively over my younger brother. No one calls me a bloodsucker and gets away with it._

_"Did you want Douglas's arm to get ripped off?" He's acting like Max actually did that, and that makes me angry. That was all him, the big buffoon!_

_"It's not my fault," Max pips up unhelpfully._

_"What, so it's _my _fault, then? Everything you did, it's _my _fault?" Carol growls as he inches towards us._

_"No—"_

_"That's what you think, isn't it?" He comes towards us, but I get in front of Max before he gets there._

_"Don't come any closer, Carol," I warn._

_"Get out of the way, leech," he snarls. "I'd like a few words with our king."_

_"I'm not letting you near him." I have no idea why I'm so brave. Inside, I'm screaming at myself, telling myself I need to get out of there because Carol looks like he's about to eat someone. But I can't leave Max alone with these beasts. It's too dangerous._

_"You'd better move, or I'll throw you out of here. Or worse." He shows his teeth and growls deeply._

_"I don't care what happens to me," I say, baring my fangs right back at him. "You're not going to hurt Max."_

_"Who says I was gonna hurt him?" Carol takes another step, but I stand my ground._

_"Isn't it obvious?"_

_"So it's obvious that I'm a big, destructive monster?" Carol says, his voice rising._

_"Bella, get out of here," Douglas instructs me. He's still holding the stump that used to be his arm, and he looks deadly serious._

_"No," I answer Carol. "It's obvious that you wanna do more than just 'talk' to my brother."_

_"Oh, and that's any different from me being a monster?" Carol looks very angry now._

_"Bella, get out of here," Douglas repeats, more urgently. "Take Max and run."_

_I want to. No one knows how bad I want to do what Douglas is telling me to do. But I know that I can't back down from Carol, no matter how scary he is. I have to do this. He needs to know that what he's doing is not okay with me._

_"You have to calm down, Carol," I insist. "You're getting out of control!"_

_This pushes him over the edge. He raises his claws, but not before I push Max out of the way. I feel sharp, shooting pain all over my arms, and suddenly in my back. I'm on the floor, sticks and twigs raining down from where I hit the wall. My arms are a different color. They're redder._

_Carol is still breathing hard, but eventually calms down. He walks out of the fort, looking frightened and upset. Douglas goes off to fix his arm, and the others leave, as well, for reasons unknown. Max and I are the only ones left._

_I manage to sit up, and try to hide the pain on my face. Max doesn't need to see that I've been weakened._

_He sits beside me and bursts into tears. "This…is all…my fault…" he sobs._

_"No, it's not," I say soothingly. I want to hug him, but I'm afraid of getting blood all over his wolf suit. Bandages magically appear beside me (Hello! I'm in a dream, remember?) and I quickly wrap up my arms._

_"We need to leave, Bella…" he says quietly through his tears. "I have a feeling that if we stay, Carol's gonna do something bad to everyone." _

_"I've got it covered," I say, telling him my plan. "When they're all sleeping, we can sneak away in your boat and go home."_

_"No, we can't," he says._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"The boat got away." He looks at me sadly. "The knot wasn't tied properly. I don't know where it went."_

That _would_ happen to me_, I think angrily. Dumb knots. _

_Ugh, I can't believe this! So we're stuck here. I mean, I can run fast, but not over the water. (No, not even in my dreams.) And it's not like I'd magically know which way to go. (With my luck, we'd end up on some crazy island…well, crazier than this one, anyway.)_

_"What are we gonna do?" Max starts to cry again, and begins to sob into my shoulder._

_"Don't worry, Max," I say, hugging him gingerly. "We'll figure something out."_


	37. 33: The Dirt Clod War

_Hey! Sorry I didn't update sooner! I was having a lot of fun this week - and I didn't even go on vacation for break LOL! Plus I wanted to get the DVD first in order to be accurate with the dialogue and events. And guess what? I GOT IT! TODAY! I'm super happy! ^-^ And I was able to watch the scene I needed for this chapter! _

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own this movie. Obviously. _

_P.S. This is a Max-centric chapter, so no Bella (but there is some Bella the Vampire...)_

_P.P.S. This chapter's extra-long, since I haven't updated in forever._

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dirt Clod War

"Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna have a war!" Max exclaimed. "And we're gonna completely clobber each other!"

He had gathered the group in the middle of the woods to explain his brilliant plan. The only ones absent were KW and Bella. KW had gone off to bring Bob and Terry home, while Bella had mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Max hoped KW got back in time to play with him and the others, but his feelings for his sister's alter ego weren't completely mended, and he hoped she stayed away from him for the time being.

"Clobber each other?" Ira repeated, interested.

"Yeah, with these dirt clods," Max held up a ball of dirt so everyone could see. "I used to do it a ton when I was a little kid."

_Of course, I'd always do it with Bella and Claire…_

"We…we haven't had a dirt clod fight in a long time," Douglas remarked.

"It's the best way to have fun together," Max went on.

"Life was simpler back then with the dirt clods…" Ira said fondly.

"So who wants to be a Bad Guy?" Max asked.

The wild things looked at each other, no one saying anything. Typical response. No one ever wanted to be a Bad Guy.

"Okay, then. I'll pick one." He looked around the group. Who would be best at being bad?

His eyes fell on Judith. She didn't like him much, and she irritated him a lot, so that automatically made her his opponent.

"Um…okay, you're a Bad Guy," he said, pointing at her.

"Yeah, saw that coming," she said sarcastically.

Max ignored her and continued to look. Alexander went into consideration. He was always underfoot, saying random stuff no one cared about. He got on Max's nerves almost as much as Judith, and suddenly Max wanted Alexander to be a Bad Guy.

"You're definitely a Bad Guy," Max told him.

"What?" Alexander looked disappointed. "Aw, man."

"And you can pick one other," Max said, trying to make the playing field even.

"I'll be a Bad Guy," Ira said, raising his hand. "I wanna be bad."

Judith looked at Max. "Okay, we pick you."

Max saw what she was trying to do, and was ready to refute it. "No, I can't be a Bad Guy," he said, laughing. "I'm the king. I'm a Good Guy."

"I'm a Bad Guy!" Ira chanted, his hand rising higher. "I'm a Bad Guy!"

"Okay, you can be a Bad Guy," Max agreed. He didn't care where he placed Ira, and if Ira wanted to be on the Bad Guy team, then Max would let him be on it.

"Judy! I'm on your team!" Ira said excitedly.

"Yeah, I heard," she said, still upset about being a Bad Guy.

"And you…" Max looked to where the Bull sat behind everyone else. "He's…he's with you." Max didn't know the Bull very well, and was still a bit scared of him.

"Am I a Good Guy, then?" Douglas asked Carol.

"Of course! You've got the best arm!" Carol answered proudly.

Max smiled. He had the sensible people on his team. Douglas was smart (and he had a good arm, from the sound of it), and Carol was really aggressive.

Now that only left one more person to be on their team…

"Hey!" Judith called sharply. "Where were you?"

Everyone turned to see KW coming towards them, an indifferent look on her face. "Just making sure Bob and Terry still have their brains." She gave a pointed look at Carol. "They do."

"KW!" Max called, running to where she was. This was perfect. She could be on their team.

"Hey, KW!" Alexander said. "You wanna be on my team? We're the Bad Guys!" He almost sang the last sentence, trying to make it sound cool.

"No, no, no! No! You're with us!" Max said, taking her paw in his hand. "You're a Good Guy."

"Yeah, come on, KW," Carol mumbled, almost incoherently. "Be a Good Guy."

"Okay, so you're on my team," Max explained as they approached Carol and Douglas. "You and me and Carol and Douglas."

"Hi, KW," Carol said awkwardly.

She looked sideways at him before turning back to Max.

"Okay, so what we're gonna try to do is kill the Bad Guys," Max told his team, "by beating them in the head with these dirt clods."

KW and Carol looked at each other, a bit wary. Douglas nodded, seeming to understand.

"And we're gonna try to find the biggest pieces so—"

A big dirt clod hit him in the head. Carol caught him before he could fall over.

The war had officially begun.

"You didn't see that coming!" called Alexander. Judith and Ira followed his lead and threw dirt clods towards them.

"Run for cover!" Max yelled.

"You'd better run!" Judith shouted.

Off they went. Max ran right behind KW, Carol and Douglas leading as dirt clods landed and exploded all around them.

They made it to the desert part of the island. The Bad Guys had run off Carol and KW; Max was alone with Douglas. But they were still being pursued, Max knew they were. And with this knowledge, Max started to laugh. This was how things were supposed to be.

"Look out for the Bad Guys!" came Ira's voice. A shower of dirt clods and tree branches rained down. A huge boulder was hurtling towards them. Max was frightened for a moment. What if—

He reappeared ten feet away as the boulder landed where he'd just been. What had just happened? He was about to be crushed by a boulder…and now he had magically been put out of harm's way. He could have sworn he heard someone call jokingly, "Get your head out of the clouds, Max!"

He found Carol and KW behind a huge log. "We've got them pinned down!" Carol informed them as Douglas ran up. "They can't even move!"

About thirty feet away were the Bad Guys hiding behind another huge log, cowering from the dirt clods being hurled by the Good Guys.

"Fire on three!" Max commanded.

"Okay!" Douglas said.

"One…two…THREE!"

Dirt clods went shooting over, showering Judith and Ira with dirt and rocks. Max giggled with giddiness.

"Wait…wait," he said through his laughter, holding off an attack from his team. "I have an idea."

They stopped to watch him.

"Come out!" Max called.

"No!" Judith answered, peeking out from behind the log.

"Why not?"

"Uh, cause you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt!" Judith said, as if it were obvious.

"Max, how is this helping?" Carol's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Hang on, okay?" He turned back to the log. "Come out!" he called again.

"No!" was the response from Judith.

"Why not?"

"Because when I said you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt, you didn't say anything! That means you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt!"

Max's face fell. "Man…they really got us figured out." It only took him a moment to come up with a new plan.

"Okay, let's go!" he called to his teammates. "CHAAAARRRGE!"

They hurled dirt clods at Judith and Ira, who retreated quickly. Explosions and screaming started up again instantly.

"Good shot!" Ira called. "I'm gonna get you!"

Huge dirt clods fell dangerously close to where Max was. Strangely, he wasn't hit with the bigger ones. But he didn't have time to puzzle how this was so.

He and Douglas slid into a ravine, closely followed by Carol and KW. They threw more balls of dirt at the opposing team, hitting them almost every single time. Max let out a new fit of giggles.

A raccoon appeared on the ground, hissing viciously.

"Hey! Who threw Richard?" Carol asked, picking the animal up. "He's on our team now!" He threw the raccoon, and he landed on Ira's huge nose, clawing wildly.

"No throwing animals!" Ira cried. "Get it off! It hurts! It really hurts!"

Max saw Alexander sneaking his way to where his team was staked out. Now was the time to rack up a few more points for the Good Guys.

"Hey, Douglas," Max said. "Get the goat."

"Okay," Douglas said.

"Knock his legs over," Max said.

"Got it." Douglas grunted as he hurled a dirt clod at Alexander's legs. The small wild thing did a back flip and landed hard on the rocks.

"Ow, you guys! That hurt!"

Max tried to stifle a giggle. Seeing Alexander this angry was making him happy all over again.

"I'm not playing anymore!" Alexander exclaimed, walking away.

"Come on!" Judith yelled. "Fight with us!"

"No!"

"Do it again!" Max said to Douglas. No sooner had he said this, another dirt clod hit Alexander square in the back, knocking him down.

"That's not fair! That's cheating! Are your crazy?" Alexander screamed, clearly upset.

"You're _supposed _to get hit!" Judith said. "It's a war!"

"That wasn't fair!" Alexander existed. "Douglas hit me when I was hurt! You're not supposed to hit someone when they're hurt!" He turned around. "I quit!"

"Get back here!" Judith barked, growing angry.

Max slid further into the ravine, a bit embarrassed that he'd caused a fight among the Bad Guys.

"Alexander, don't you cry!" Judith shouted.

"Alex, count to ten! Everything'll be fine!" Ira suggested.

"If I count to ten, will you be gone, Ira?" Alexander spat.

"Don't you _dare _talk to him like that!" Judith yelled.

"Knock it off!" Max shouted. He couldn't take this anymore. He threw a dirt clod willy-nilly.

"Ow!" Judith cried. "That's my eye!"

The war quickly forgot about Alexander, and Max wanted it to stay that way. Judith flew through the air, letting loose a legion of smaller dirt clods. The Bull was hit a few times, but that was sufficient enough to make him fall over.

The Good Guys migrated out of the ravine. Carol tripped and fell on his back, while Max tripped over Carol's body. Douglas was right behind them, and he tripped over the side of Carol's head.

"Oh, Carol!" he said. "I'm sorry!"

KW came by, jumping on Carol's face and knocking into Douglas.

"What's the matter?" she asked Carol playfully. "Someone step on your head?"

Carol got up, but instead of laughing like KW, he looked irritated and angry.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

Max realized suddenly that Carol wasn't pleased with being stepped on. He froze where he was, not knowing what to do.

"What?" KW asked.

"Don't step on my head!"

KW looked at him funny. "What do you mean? It's a _war_. Douglas just did it."

"Yeah, but he did it on accident! You did it on purpose!" he said, pointing at her accusingly. "And he didn't step on the face part of my head!"

Max hid behind a few tree roots, clinging to them, fearful of what would happen if this fight spiraled out of control. He felt the pressure of reassuring hands on his shoulders, but he was sure no one else was there.

"It was a joke," KW said quietly, becoming angry as well. "I was just joking."

"Like you aren't always looking for the opportunity to step on my head," Carol growled. "Cause that's what you do."

Max held his breath, almost wanting someone to throw a punch or…something. Anything to end this tension. Although he did admit the invisible hands on his shoulders were a bit comforting.

"Fine," KW said. "Fine. You know what? This is exactly why I don't wanna do anything with you anymore." She laid down on her back and pointed to her head. "Go ahead. Step on my head."

Carol considered it for a moment before restraining himself. "Forget it. I'm not gonna step on your head just to make you feel better."

Explosions were heard, but they seemed far away now. Carol turned to where Douglas hid behind a pile of rocks.

"Come on, Douglas, let's go," he said.

"Carol, I thought you did the right thing," Douglas said weakly as the two friends walked away.

Max noticed that the coast was clear. Before going over to KW, he turned around. He was sure someone had to have been there. But he saw no one. It made him confused, but he couldn't think about that right now.

He slowly walked to where KW lay. He carefully put his right foot on her forehead, hoping that it would make her feel better.

"Thanks Max," she said sadly. "But…I'm done. I don't know why I came back here. Glad I met you, I guess."

Max didn't know what to say. He didn't want KW to leave, but at the same time he understood why she wanted to. He decided not to tell her how he felt about the situation for fear of worsening it.

"Where's your sister?" she asked. "She leave, too?"

Max nodded numbly. "She's angry with me. She needs time by herself."

"That's what I need," KW said. "You get that, right, Max?"

He did, but he wasn't about to say so. Right then he wanted to rewind the day and pretend none of this ever happened.

...

Unfortunately, the others weren't about to let Max forget what he'd done. They were in the spot where they'd picked teams for the war, sitting in a circle and grumbling to each other as the sky grew dark.

Max hugged his knees and tried not to make eye contact. He knew that everyone was upset with him, but he didn't want to look at their faces. It would just make him feel worse.

"So, King, what's goin' on?" Judith asked, breaking the silence with her aggravating voice. "This is how you rule your kingdom? Everyone fighting? The Bad Guys feel bad…heck, _everyone _feels bad."

_Don't you think I realize that? _he wanted to scream. He kept quiet and tried to hide beneath his matted brown bangs.

"I still feel dizzy," Ira complained quietly. "My eyeballs feel loose."

"Oh, can it, Ira," Judith snapped. "Everyone's eyeballs feel loose."

Max wanted to do something. But what? He was just a pathetic little boy, unable to do anything. Why couldn't he have powers like Max the Super Wolf?

"No," Carol said. "Max can rule his kingdom. He'll keep us all together. He has powers. He told us." He turned his hopeful gaze to Max. "Right, Max? Show us. Please."

Max had run out of ideas. He was scared out of his wits. He was in a circle of huge beasts who were prepared to eat him. What was he going to do?

There had to be something. A trick of some sorts, maybe? Or…yes! Yes, it _had_ to work! It always made people feel happy back in his old home. Why couldn't it work here?

Max got up and promptly started to execute his robot dance.

They all stared in awe. Max thought it was because they were impressed. But he would soon learn the reason for their intent looks.

"Uh, oh," Ira said. "Somebody broke the king."

He slowed down a bit, but didn't stop. This had to work.

"I don't get it," Judith said.

This made him cease his movements. Maybe it wouldn't work.

"Oh, wait. I do," Judith stated. "It's _stupid_."

Max looked around the circle. Alexander sighed and turned away. Ira and Judith were still fixed on him. Douglas was drawing in the dirt. The Bull was staring at a nearby tree, oblivious. Carol gave him a look worthy of making Max's heart crack further.

"_That's_ what we waited for?" Judith asked.

Max didn't know how to answer. He was stuck where he was, unable to move.

The temperature dropped, and snow began to fall. The group looked up at the sky, taking this as their sign to ditch the meeting and leave Max alone with his thoughts.

Before they disappeared, Carol looked back. Max pleaded with him silently, begging him not to leave. Carol shook his head and turned away, following the others as they made their way back to the fort.

They couldn't leave him out here all alone. He wanted to follow, but wasn't sure if he should.

"CAROL?" he called, his voice echoing off the nearby trees. He got no answer. Or rather, he did get an answer to whether or not he should return to the fort that night.

It was as clear as if he'd asked a magic eight ball:

No.

He started to shiver, and the snow continued to fall. He made his way to a tree with huge roots and snuggled into them, trying to keep warm. His dirty wolf suit wasn't going to be enough to shut out the cold.

He was drowsy and wasn't concerned if he was freezing or not. He just wanted to go to sleep and escape all the mistakes he'd made, the trouble he'd caused for these creatures. It was all his fault…

The feeling of arms came over him, and he was sure that the same hands who had comforted him earlier during the war were with him now. He didn't mind; they were familiar, and made him feel safe.

"It's okay, Max…" someone whispered. "Everything's okay."

He wanted to say something back, but was too tired to answer.

And Max Carson finally fell asleep on that cold, snowy night, on the island where the Wild Things are, with Bella the Vampire watching over him.


	38. 34: Facing Another Day

_LOL the part about Bella (the real Bella) was inspired by the four-five pages in the book New Moon dedicated to showing how long Bella went into her depression because Edward had left. _

_.........._

Chapter Thirty-Four: Facing Another Day

She wasn't going to take much more. She'd been outside for two-and-a-half hours now.

And it was getting to her.

Bella was starting to wonder if Max was just hiding from everyone. He was probably following her, making himself hidden from view, thinking he could mess with her. He thought he was being funny, wasn't he?

_Stop thinking like that. You know he wouldn't do that._

But what if he did? Max was so unreadable these days, he could have taken a plane to Denmark tonight, for all she knew.

She found another bench on the corner and sat down. She couldn't believe that after this long, she still hadn't found him. Knowing this, a horrible feeling came over her. Somehow, she knew she'd be going home tonight without her brother.

Bella didn't move from the bench, and she didn't feel anything when a wave of depression came over her and she went down, down, down into the depths of sadness.

...

9:45

...

10:00

...

10:15

...

10:30

...

It was around 10:35 when Bella fell asleep.

..........

The next morning, Max awoke to a thick layer of clouds. At first, he thought he was in heaven, but then he realized that it was only fog. He slowly got up and stretched, seeing that all the snow from the previous night had melted, meaning that today would probably be warmer.

Without warning, he remembered all that had happened to him on the island. He swallowed, knowing he was in huge trouble with everyone. Now he really did wish he was some sort of king or a super wolf or something more exciting than just a regular boy.

How had things gotten so out of hand? That was an easy question to answer. It was him. He ruined everything. Nothing he ever did came out right. His family was broken, the wild things were disgruntled and petulant, and his mind was thoroughly in shambles.

So…what happened now?

He got up and trudged through the woods, not knowing what lay ahead. He felt like a zombie, going wherever his feet took him and not processing anything. He finally came to the edge of a cliff, and before he blindly walked off into the ocean, he stopped.

Out before him lay the sea. The wind was blowing, brushing his disheveled hair from his face. The salt stung at his eyes, which he found were already tearing up on their own. He spent about an hour by himself, thinking about what needed to happen to make things better again.

He heard someone behind him. It wasn't one of the wild things; the footsteps were too cautious and small to belong to any one of them. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, to some extent afraid of the confrontation he knew was about to happen.

Bella the Vampire stood beside him, staring into the space beyond. He could see that tears were forming in the corner of her eyes, as well. He was about to say something when she beat him to it.

"There used to be a cliff just like this," she said. "Me and the others would go there all the time. I miss it so much."

"What happened?" Max asked, his curiosity taking over.

Bella shrugged. "Too many earthquakes…a lot of rainstorms…everyone became scared of his own shadow. No one goes out anymore."

"Because of me?"

Bella looked at him. "What?"

"I caused all that, right? The earthquakes, the rainstorms…your vampire friend being kicked out. It was all me. Wasn't it?"

She didn't say anything. It didn't make him feel any better.

"You don't have to lie. I know it's me."

"It's not your fault, Max," Bella said gently. "All that stuff happens because of what happens around you. Your mind adjusts to your surroundings."

"I ruin my surroundings." Max looked up at her. "I ruin everything."

"You don't, Max." She put an arm around him. "You don't know how special you are."

Special? She thought he was _special_? How could she think good of someone like him?

"We have to go back to the fort," he said in response.

"We?" Bella smiled sadly. "Max…this might be a long shot, but…I'm pretty sure that after what happened yesterday, I won't be welcomed back to the fort again."

"I don't wanna go alone." Max became panicked. "I don't wanna be eaten."

He felt Bella's grip on him shoulder tighten. "I'll keep close tabs on you, alright? No one's gonna eat anyone. At least…not while I'm here. And if those guys try anything funny, or you really need me, I'll go in, alright?"

Max managed a smile. "You sure I can't trade one of my sisters for you?"

..........

A while later, Max trudged through the back entrance of the fort. He made sure he was as quiet as possible, lest he disturb any of the wild things. Although Bella had assured him that she was right outside the fort and would intervene if he needed her, he still couldn't sooth his pounding heart.

Halfway across the room, he spotted Alexander, sitting on a log and watching the sun slowly make its way up through the sky. He didn't seem angry; he seemed sad.

"Hi," Max said quietly before he could stop himself.

Alexander looked up. When he saw who it was, he went back to watching the sky. Max cautiously went and sat beside the goat-like wild thing. Neither said a word for a few moments.

Max saw that there was a deep gash on Alexander's back. Instead of looking red, it was a brownish-black color.

"Is that from the dirt clods?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Alexander said. "It's from when you had Douglas hit me."

The memory came back, and Max felt very guilty about doing that. Only the day before, he hadn't cared all that much about Alexander. Now he seemed to relate more to this particular wild thing than ever before.

"Sorry about that."

Alexander shrugged. "It's okay."

Something hit Max right then. "No one really listens to you, huh?"

"Oh, you noticed." Alexander laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess you're not used to that. Being a king and all."

_Except that I'm not. _

Max said what was on his mind. "I really messed this place up."

Alexander looked at him in a funny way. "You're not…really a king…huh? You're just regular."

This surprised Max a bit. He hadn't expected Alexander to figure that much out so soon. But after all that he'd gone through, he didn't feel like lying anymore. So he shook his head.

Alexander sighed. "I knew it." He stared at the wall. "I don't even know if there is such a thing as a king that can do all the things you said."

Max was a bit nervous about what Alexander would do now that he knew the truth. But when the goat continued to sit there, he became confused. Wasn't Alexander angry?

"Look," Alexander said. "I don't care. Just…don't ever let Carol find out."

Right.

Carol.

..........

That night, Max was allowed to sleep in the fort. He thought that maybe being back with the others would be a lot better than sleeping all by himself in the cold.

He soon learned he was mistaken. Again.

Poor Max kept waking up, but it wasn't because he himself was having bad dreams. Carol kept talking in his sleep, clawing at the ground in a ferocious way.

"Max…come here…king…" he mumbled over and over, growling the whole time.

Max inched away from where Carol lay and pressed against the wall. He was seriously thinking about making a run for it when he turned and saw that Bella was right behind him. He jumped and let out a yelp, but luckily he did not stir the others.

"I thought you weren't coming in here," Max said.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Unless I had to intervene." She pointed to where Carol was still grunting and clawing. "And I'm guessing this is a very good reason to do so."

Max nodded, yawning. "You didn't have to do that…"

"I don't care." She narrowed her eyes at Carol. "He's not doing anything to you. I promise, Max."

He didn't have time to tell her how much he hated that word. As soon as her arms came around him, he fell back asleep.

..........

While he was sleeping, Max came up with a plan that could keep him safe. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to run it by Bella, because she had already left by the time he had woken up. So he had to put his plan into action alone.

He found the perfect stick, and began to draw a rectangle in the side of the fort – Max-sized, of course. He was working on making the lines thicker when he noticed Carol walk in.

"Max," Carol said. The wild thing noticed the drawing on the wall. "What's that?"

Max had been hoping to avoid this, but all he could do now was pray that Bella wasn't too far off.

"Um…well, I was thinking that we needed a place…where the king's secret…like a, like a secret chamber for the king."

Carol was starting to look hurt, but Max could tell his friend wasn't grasping the whole concept. Which was good. Maybe.

"Well…I don't understand, what…?"

"Well…you know, like…like a small place…with a door that's…not so big…" This wasn't coming out right. He could tell. Carol's face told all.

"Whoa," Carol said after a moment. "I didn't picture it with secret doors."

Max hadn't, either. But if he wanted to save himself from potential harm, this was the only solution he could come up with. He just couldn't tell Carol that. He'd most likely hurt his feelings.

"What if it were a big place?" Carol suggested hopefully. "With big secret doors?"

"Well…that's…that's not really…how it would be done," Max explained softly. "It's more like…"

It didn't matter what Max was about to say. Carol's paw plunged into the side of the fort, creating a round hole. Max ducked as twigs and sticks flew overhead.

"About that big?" Carol asked. He was holding back either a growl or a crying fit; whichever one it was, Max couldn't tell.

He wouldn't find out, either. Carol stormed away before he did anything else, clearly upset.

Max didn't need a secret door any longer.

He sprinted out of the fort. What he needed now was something he never thought could be possible.

He needed to find Bella. He needed to tell her what had happened.

But more importantly, he needed to ask her something that had been burning him with interest ever since she'd arrived here.

He wanted to know where his sister was.


	39. 35: I'm Done

_A/N: Bella (Max's sister) won't be showing up for a couple more chapters...LOL I'm giving her some time to rest and think about things._

........

Chapter Thirty-Five: I'm Done

"Bella!" Max called. She wasn't anywhere he looked. She'd promised she would stay close by. So why wasn't she here? What could have made her disappear like this?

He went back to the fort and knelt in front of his secret door. Now that he saw what it would look like, he couldn't believe he'd wanted it in the first place. Nevertheless, he climbed in and snuggled in the small space, happy for the momentary comfort it provided him.

He found himself suddenly angry at Carol for making the hole. He had to overreact to everything, didn't he? Carol was so immature…so thickheaded…

So…much like himself.

He pushed the thought from his mind. Why had Carol come into the fort, anyway? Max was sure that everyone – save Alexander – still harbored harsh feelings for what he had done a few days before. Carol was probably coming in to tell him what a horrible job he'd done in ruling everyone.

Now that he thought about it, Carol had seemed a bit disgruntled about something as he'd entered the fort. It could have easily been about what Max had done, but he had a feeling that whatever Carol was upset about was something completely different.

That's when he remembered something. Climbing into the hole he'd seen a smear or two on the walls of the fort. He climbed out to see if he was right.

There they were. He hadn't been seeing things. Bits of red streaks surrounded the hole.

Bits of _red_…

Max remembered seeing red covering Carol's claws.

And that red certainly didn't look like finger paint.

And although Carol could have clawed anyone on the island, Max was sure he knew who the victim had been.

His stomach dropped. _Oh no…_

He took off running, not knowing where he was headed, but knowing he needed to run.

……

He finally found her sitting by the beach where Bob and Terry lived. She was wrapping cloth around one of her arms, and from where he stood, he saw that it was red.

Just another thing he could chalk up to his wonderful way of ruling the island.

But at the moment, all that mattered was that she was alive.

He approached her, suddenly shy. "Bella?" He was out of breath from running.

She jumped. "Oh, hey, Max," she said quickly.

"What happened?"

She looked at her arm. "Oh…this?" She shrugged. "I, um…was running really fast and I…smacked into a tree." She shrugged again. "You know how clumsy vampires can be."

_Except vampires don't get hurt all that much. They can only bear injury if they're harmed by…by a Wild Thing._

Max sat beside her. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or angry that she was trying to hide her wounded arm from him. She was putting on a brave face, something she'd been doing ever since she'd gotten here. He figured that someone else needed to stand in her place for a while.

"I know it was Carol."

Bella glanced anxiously at him before sighing. "He caught me sneaking around his secret hiding place. I found it by accident, but I figured it had to belong to him." She smiled for a moment. "He's so much like you, Max. I see so much of you in him."

Her smile faded as she went on. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to him about possibly being friends. I hate the fact that he hates me. It puts a strain on everything. So I was looking through the desert and the rocky part of the island when I found his secret room. Then he arrived shortly after. I was afraid he'd catch me, so I hid. But he's got a great sense of smell, just like me. He knew I was in there, and…" She paused.

"You can tell me," Max said, not sure he wanted to hear what happened next.

"Carol's got a very bad temper, Max. I'm sure you've noticed that."

"It's not exactly inconspicuous," Max admitted.

"I got to see it firsthand. He was livid with me. He thought you'd told me about it and that I'd gone there just to get on his nerves." She looked down at her arm. "The next thing I knew, I was slammed into a wall and my arm was bleeding. He told me if he ever caught me there again…"

Max shook his head. "You still think none of this is my fault?"

"I don't have anything to say to that."

"Because you know it's my fault!" She was so annoying when she did this.

He could tell Bella was getting annoyed, too. "Okay, you know what? I'm gonna come out and tell you exactly what I think." She stood up. "Ever since you decided to lock me away, I've been extremely angry with you. All those storms and earthquakes…yes, they were your fault. Whenever you had a tantrum is when they happened. They destroyed everything. And it took forever to put everything right again.

"The worst part about it is that you just don't seem to care. You'll do whatever you want and not even stop to think about how everyone else feels! It's your fault that KW and Carol are fighting, it's your fault that everyone hates you, and it's your fault that I'm out of my comfort zone, trying to help you! EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT!"

Max was stunned. He didn't know if he should point out anything she'd done wrong.

"You know, I miss the way you used to be," Bella said, her voice softening. "What happened to the Max who was always so friendly and loving?"

"He…he grew up." He said it harshly, but inside, he knew it was the truth.

Bella frowned at him. "You think growing up means acting like a jerk?"

"Well…what about you?" Max asked. "It's not like you're a perfect little Cullen! You nag me every day about what I need to do, what _you_ think is the right thing. You think _I'm_ the only one who doesn't care?"

"You're the one who wanted to hear it!"

"You didn't have to say yes!" Max shot back.

Bella heaved a frustrated sigh. "You know what? This was a horrible idea. I think the best thing to do is for you to let me back into your Mind—"

"What makes you think I want you back in there? So you can take over and become my Conscience and make me do the things you want? I don't think so."

"Fine." She looked down the beach. "Then I guess I'm really leaving."

"Go ahead and leave. No one wants you here, anyway."

That night when things went wrong came back to Max suddenly. He'd thought in his head that no one wanted his sister, Bella, there.

"Okay. I'm done. Goodbye, Max." She began to walk away.

"Wait!" he said. He remembered he wanted to ask her something.

She turned around. "What?" He saw that she was beginning to cry.

"I want to know where my sister is. My _real _sister."

Bella glared at him. "You really wanna know where she is? You tell me."

"What?"

"Where do _you _think she is?"

"Isn't…isn't she out looking for me?" Max was confused. "That's what you said, right?"

"I wouldn't know. Her brain is asleep, and when she's asleep, my connection with her isn't that strong. So I have no idea where she is."

Max figured she was at home, sleeping, not even worrying about him.

"The last time I could track where she was going, she was…sitting on a bench. So be happy at least one person cares enough to look for you." In a flash, she had turned around and used her vampire running abilities to disappear.

Max stared after her for a long time.

So it really was true. The real Bella was out looking for him.

She was worried something bad would happen.

She really did care about him.

And even though he'd just had a huge falling-out with one of his best friends, he kept the knowledge that Bella still cared about him close, finding that it was enough to comfort him as he started to cry.


	40. 36: Losing Him Twice

_Hola! Sorry I haven't been updating! You know me...I'm super busy at the end of the school year. XD So I'm trying my hardest to do what I can. _

_This chapter was heavily influenced by that wonderful novel _The Wild Things _by our pal Dave Eggers. And, no, I'm not saying that sarcastically...it really was an awesome book and Dave Eggers is a freakin' amazing author. Anyway, the reason I based this off of the book was because I really liked his take on the part where Carol chases Max and KW hides him in her stomach. It was interesting to see Carol actually try to pull Max out of KW's stomach; it made the whole thing seem much more scary. And I also thought it was interesting when KW won't let Max out of her stomach and keeps saying he can live in there. Plus I didn't want to make this exactly like the movie, because that part is coming up next! ^-^ _

_Sorry that was so long! Happy reading!_

.........

Chapter Thirty-Six: Losing Him Twice 

**My Weird, Crazy Dream – Part VII**

**As told in 1****st**** Person by Bella Carson**

_So I'm about ready to fall back asleep, when guess what happens._

_THE FREAKING SUN DECIDES TO RISE RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT._

_And of course Carol isn't anywhere to be seen._

_Awesome._

_Well, Max and I know we're not gonna get anymore sleep, but I can tell that Max wants some time by himself. So I tell him to go off to wherever he was planning to go and that I'll catch up with him later. I'm not entirely confident with this decision, but I know it needs to happen. There's only so much of Bella that any one person can take._

_Now that I have all this free time to myself, I go to the beach to sit and think for a little bit. How had things gotten this way? Was there anything I could do to make things right again? These were the questions I'd asked myself a billion times, but that I still don't know the answers to. After a while, I give up and just stare at the waves lapping at the shore._

_Suddenly the sunlight goes a bit dim. At first I think the sun really _is_ dying for real this time, and I'm about to start panicking when I notice what's blocking the sun: two identical birds, flying in a circle._

_They descend and land next to me, one on either side. They seem vaguely familiar. I remember that KW had told me about how she's friends with two birds – well, owls, if you want the specifics. What were their names again? Shawn and Sherri? No…Tom and Jerry? No…Don and Mary?_

_No. Again._

_Was it…Bob and Terry?_

_Yes! That was it!_

_"You guys are Bob and Terry, right?" I ask. At the moment, I'm so distraught I don't even second guess talking out loud to a couple of owls._

_"Meep!" says one owl._

_"Meep!" says the other._

_"I'll take that as a yes…" I say. KW failed to mention that these things are obviously impossible to understand. So this should be fun._

_I try to figure out which one is Bob and which one is Terry. The bigger one on my right seems masculine, so I guess that it's Bob, leaving the smaller, petite one on my left to be Terry. I'm about to ask when I remember that all I'll hear is a bunch of hooting._

_What else did KW say about these things? Oh, right. They knew the answers to everything. I'm not sure what she meant by the term "everything", so I guess that it literally meant everything. _

_And that's when I have a thought._

_Maybe I can ask Bob and Terry what to do about my situation. And if I try hard enough, maybe I can understand what they're saying._

_It's worth a shot. I mean, I have nothing to loose, really._

_"Hey, can I ask you guys a question?"_

_"Meep!" says Bob._

_"Meep!" says Terry._

_"What do you think I should do about…well…everything?"_

_"Meep, meep, meep-meep!" advises Bob._

_"Meep, meep-meep, meep-meep meep!" adds Terry._

_"Um…thanks!" I say. "You guys really are smart."_

_"Meep!" says Bob._

_"Meep!" says Terry._

_But I still have no idea what they've said._

………

_Bob and Terry leave a few minutes later, and once again I'm sitting by myself, as confused as ever. I begin to blame my mother for the mess I'm in; soon I also blame Claire, then my dad, then Gary, then Tori, then Max, and finally myself. And as I'm playing the Blame Game in my head, I find something very curious._

_My family hasn't talked in a while. And I mean really talk. Like about our feelings and stuff._

_We haven't done that in a long time._

_Not since…the divorce._

_We've been kidding ourselves for long enough and pretending everything's peachy keen, when really we're all hurting inside and want to let our emotions out. We're all like shaken-up pop bottles, waiting for the perfect moment to explode._

_That's when I realize that Max already has._

_This is the moment I grasp what it is that I need to do – not only with my family back home, but also here on the island._

_I need to find everyone, and we all need to talk._

_Because it's only a matter of time before one of us can't take the pressure anymore and completely bursts apart._

………

_Considering my luck with controlling my dreams, I'll bet you're guessing that I wasn't quick enough to stop the next pop bottle from…well, blowing his top._

_And your guess is right._

_Since I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before, I fall asleep at the beach and wake up to see that the sun was low in the sky. I figure there's only about a few hours left of sunlight, so I decide to go back to the fort._

_That's when I get this awful feeling in my stomach. And what's worse is that it's even stronger because I'm a vampire. _

_And, no, it's not that I'm starving like crazy (which I'm not, because vampires can go a long time without eating)._

_It's that Max is in trouble._

_Yes, it's obvious that that's the most cliché thing that could happen in my dream, but it happens._

_So I turn on the vampire speed, suddenly frightened._

………

_I first run toward the fort, because I think that that might be the site of the conflict. But as I draw nearer, I can hear deafening roars coming from the woods I'm running through, accompanied by whimpers and cries that are almost too quiet to hear._

_My worst fear is happening._

_Max is being pursued by one of the wild things._

_And I'm not even there to do anything about it._

_Since my human-half is freaking out like crazy, my vampire-half is having a hard time detecting where Max is. I'm running blindly through the trees, the only thing helping me are the roars and cries getting louder and louder. _

Go faster! _I yell at myself. My feet are actually starting to hurt, something I'm not accustomed to. The roars are still ringing in my ears, but the whimpers are gone. That can't be a good sign._

_Up ahead is a clearing dotted with trees. I stop to rest momentarily, looking around wildly in the process. I will my vampire senses to find my brother, but my human instincts are going into overdrive, and my worry is overpowering something that would normally speed things up a little. _

_Carol bursts through the brush. I should have known this had something to do with him. There was always something about him that didn't sit right with me. Right then I want to provoke him for real. I want to get back at him for all the times he called me names; I want to rip him limb from limb for injuring my arm (which, by the way, is still in a sling)._

_I want him to pay for trying to harm Max._

_But the image of what happened last night with my arm hits home with my human-half, and I cower behind a tree instead. I watch in horror as Carol starts to climb a nearby tree, all the way up to a platform sitting at the top. I notice for the first time that KW is up on that platform, as well. _

_"Where is he?" Carol demands, breathing heavily from his climb._

_"I don't know," KW says._

_"Don't play games with me, KW! You know where he is!"_

_"I don't know!" she repeats._

_Carol sniffs the air. "I can _smell _him!"_

_He shoves KW toward the edge of the platform, but she comes back and shoves him._

_That's when I know what's happened._

_KW has eaten Max._

_She's turned against him, just like Carol._

_I don't want to accept this, but I can't deny it. Why else would Carol and KW be having a shoving match and Carol say something like, "I can smell him"?_

_My anger simmers and boils, and my vampire-half suddenly takes over. Tears streak down my face, hot and angry._

_My brother is gone._

_He's dead._

_I'm never gonna see him again._

_This sends me over the edge. I let out a cry that contains all of my emotions: heartbreak, loss…and sheer anger._

_At that moment, I want to kill KW and Carol for childishly fighting over who gets to eat Max. They've ruined my life, so it's only fair that I ruin theirs in turn._

_I run to the tree, but it takes me a while to climb it. (Hey, I'm no good when it comes to climbing, and my arm is still sore; I mean, we can't all be Edward, can we?) When I get up there, KW and Carol are still pushing each other._

_"Give him to me!" Carol shouts._

_"I don't have him!" KW insists._

_"I know you do!"_

_"You don't know anything!"_

_Carol stops, and then the most ferocious glare I've ever seen runs across his face._

_He shoves KW so hard, she almost falls off the platform this time._

_I can't take it any longer. I heave myself onto the platform and grab a handful of Carol's fur. "Get away from her!" I shout, even though I'm seething with rage at KW._

_Carol turns around, focusing his glower on me. "You helped, didn't you?" he sneers. "You know where he is!" _

_"Yeah, I know where he is!" I shoot back before I have time to think. "KW ate him!"_

_Just from the way KW looks at me I can tell I might as well have kicked her in the face. But I guess my answer is good enough for Carol, because, quick as lightning, he takes his paw and shoves it down KW's throat._

"_I know he's in there!" he cries._

_KW struggles away from Carol, trying to get his claw out of her mouth. I pound on his back, trying to get him to stop._

_He stops and then turns to me. He picks me up effortlessly and drops me off the platform._

_I'm living one of my most feared nightmares, the one where I'm falling a long way, and right before I hit the ground, I wake up with a jerk, screaming. _

_I'm determined not to get to the end._

_I reach out my good arm and hold onto a tree branch. I hang there as I strain to hear what else is going on up above me._

_My answer comes when Carol falls off the edge of the platform._

_Branches crack from under his weight as he clumsily smashes into them. I move inward and hug the trunk of the tree as he passes my branch, narrowly missing him as he crashes past. He eventually lands on his back on the ground, moaning in pain._

_I feel sorry for him, and part of me wants to help him. I'm about to when KW jumps off the platform and onto another tree, heading away from Carol. The memory of what she's done comes back, and I make the decision to follow her._

………

_She finds another clearing, this one surrounded by trees and littered with pine needles. She sits on a log, trying to calm her breathing._

_"He's gone," she says. "You're okay now, Max."_

_What? Why would she be talking to Max? He's…he's…_

_KW sniffs the air. "I know it's you, Bella," she says, a hint of coldness in her voice. _

_I storm out from my position behind a tree, suddenly a bit shy. "What have you done with him?" I ask, tears threatening to spill over._

_"If you took a moment to consider things, you'd know I'd never _eat_ him." She spits the word "eat", making me unexpectedly shamefaced. "I hid him in my stomach in order to save him from Carol."_

_The pieces finally click together in my mind. I know KW is the most gentle of all the wild things, and that she would never try to hurt Max. While Max had been running from Carol, she had expertly hidden him in her stomach before Carol had gotten ahold of him, but Carol had guessed where he was. _

_And I'd helped him._

_"I'm sorry," I say, feeling absolutely awful. "I didn't…I didn't know…"_

_KW holds up a paw to quiet me. "Don't worry about it."_

_She pauses for a minute, then says, "Of course it's okay if you talk to her."_

_I'm confused why she says this, but then I realize that Max is talking to her from inside her stomach. Sure enough, she motions me to come closer. _

_"Put your ear to my stomach," she says. I cautiously do so._

_"Bella?" comes a quiet voice._

_"Max?" I can't help the tears that flood from my eyes. _

_"I'm okay, Bella. KW saved me."_

_"I know she did," I say, feeling worse than ever._

_Max doesn't say any more, and I can tell from his shallow breathing that he's about ready to pass out._

_"I can't breathe that well in here," Max says to KW. "Can you get me out now?"_

_I pull my ear away and straighten, waiting for KW to pull Max out of her stomach. But she sits on the log, looking thoughtful._

_"KW?" Max calls. He's so loud I can hear him now. "KW! Please get me out!"_

_She keeps sitting there, not doing anything. I find my anger welling up inside of me again. Why won't she get him out? He can't breathe in there! I turn on my vampire hearing so I can hear what he's saying._

_"KW?" he asks._

_"Yes, Max?" she answers tenderly._

_"Can you please let me out? I need to leave."_

_"You don't have to leave, Max."_

_I stare at her like, _What? Are you insane?

_"But I need to."_

_"But what if Carol decides to eat you again? I can't protect you if you're out in the open."_

_I can see where KW is coming from, but Max could die in there. And I can't stand the thought of losing him again._

_"KW, he needs to get out of there. He can't live in your stomach."_

_"He likes it in there," she persists. "Don't you, Max?"_

_"No, I don't," Max tells her. "I need to get out."_

_"I can't let you go," KW says firmly._

_"You have to," I say, my anger surfacing. "You're gonna kill him!"_

_"I am not!" she says. "He can live forever with me and not have to worry about being killed!"_

_"I can't breathe in here," Max says again._

_"But you can't go, Max. I love you too much."_

_"I have to go, KW," Max says sadly. _

_KW looks at me. I want Max back so dreadfully that I can't help but let more tears run down my face. _

_KW relents and puts her own paw down her throat. When it emerges, Max is at the other end, gasping for air and covered with slime._

_But I don't see a little boy coated with stomach goo, looking weaker than I've ever seen him before._

_I see a little boy who can survive anything._

_He sees me and tries to smile. I walk up to him and gently hug him, careful not to squeeze him too tightly. I sit next to him as KW smoothes out his matted hair._

_Max looks up at KW. "Bella and I have to go home now," he says, his voice barely a whisper. Then he lays his head on my shoulder and falls asleep._


	41. 37: No Way Out

_Hey, everyone! I have good news and bad news. The good news: I have Internet access again because we got a brand-new computer! Yay! The bad news: it doesn't have Microsoft Word, and in order to install that, we have to pay a lot of money. So I downloaded the last chapter I typed from a USB key. I have other documents on my fanfic account, though, so I could just clear those out and use that free space for this story. Anyway, here's the new chapter! Hope it's not too depressing._

_I got the dialogue from the movie. Which I don't own._

_Oh! One more thing: If my OCs are taking up too much attention and hoggin the spotlight, just let me know. I have a tendency of doing that...so if it gets to be really annoying, just tell me. _

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Thirty-Seven: No Way Out

That night, Max was haunted by horrible nightmares. He kept waking up from images of terribly tall waves, ferociously sharp teeth, and malicious wild things. His breathing never calmed and his heart never rested.

Right before he tried to fall asleep again for what seemed like the hundredth time, he heard a noise outside. He feigned sleep, opening his ears for the slightest movement. Footsteps filled the room, small and cautious.

She was back. What a surprise.

Part of him wanted to throw her out. He still wasn't over what had happened that day. She blamed him for everything, and some of it wasn't even his fault. But he knew her; without him, she was nothing, no more than a figment of his imagination. She needed him.

Just like she thought he needed her.

Go figure.

Annoyed and tired, he let her enter, slightly hoping some of the wild things would wake up and attack, so that he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. She lay beside him, and he kept his eyes shut, desperately trying to fall back asleep.

He tried not to let her presence get past his tough exterior. It was difficult, because he kept seeing dancing unicorns and sailboats with legs…

…

"Get out here!…Wake up!"

Max sleepily raised his head. For a minute, he thought someone had been shouting…

"Everybody wake up!"

Nope, it was real. And the funny thing was, whoever was shouting sounded just like…

"Carol?" Douglas asked, somewhat delirious.

"Everybody get out here!"

Everyone else was waking up, and no one looked pleased. Judith was grumpy, no surprise; Ira looked confused; Alexander was back to his jittery ways; and the Bull…well, nobody ever knew what he was feeling, so he just stood there.

Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw that Bella was no longer trying to conceal herself from everyone. She right out stood in between Alexander and Judith, looking genuinely troubled.

"Everybody wake up!"

"What does he want?" Judith asked, looking very cranky.

"Uh…" Ira tried to answer, but he was too tired to finish.

"It's all wrong…" Carol mumbled madly to himself, over and over. He glared at the opening of the fort. "WAKE UP AND COME OUT HERE!"

"Carol, what is it?" Douglas asked, starting to become conscious.

"Everybody get out here!" Carol commanded again. "I can't even look at it!"

"Carol, what's wrong?" Douglas inquired.

"The fort!" Carol said, as if Douglas should have known what he was talking about.

"What?"

"We have to tear the fort down!"

"Carol, I don't understand…"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Carol stated.

"Ca_rol_…" Douglas complained.

Carol turned to look at Max. "You said we were all gonna sleep together in a real pile. We haven't done that since the first night you came here. And now you want a secret room! And KW's gone for good!"

Max was awake now, and starting to become scared.

"And now, on top of that, I have to worry if the sun is gonna die!"

"What?" Douglas exchanged glances with the others, who looked just as perplexed.

"It didn't come up! Look! It's dead! It's not here!"

"Judith…" Alexander whimpered.

"Oh, my God," Ira said.

Max couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Carol's tantrum get beyond anyone's control.

"Carol, stop!" he said, feeling next to powerless.

"It's not there! It's dead!"

"Carol, you're scaring everybody!" _Including me. _He thought that Bella had come up behind him, ready to intervene as she had promised. He didn't have time to tell her to back off, or to even notice that Bella wasn't near him; instead, she was cowering behind Judith.

"It's morning!" Carol wasn't going to give up.

"The sun's not dead! It's just nighttime!"

Carol gave him the meanest glare he'd ever seen. "I can't trust what you say," he said in a low voice.

Max took a step back, shocked.

"Everything keeps changing." Carol turned to Douglas. "Come on, Douglas, we're ripping it down."

"Carol, we're _not _ripping the fort down!" Max told him.

"It was supposed to be a place where only the things you wanted to have happen would happen!" he reminded Max. "Come _on_, Douglas, do as I tell you!"

"No!" Max exclaimed. "We all live here! Not just you!" He wondered for a split-second why those words sounded so familiar. "It's everybody's! Judith's and Ira's and everybody's!"

"Oh, _finally_!" Judith remarked.

"You were supposed to keep us safe!" Carol yelled. "You were supposed to take care of us! But you didn't! You let the bloodsucker back in! I'll bet she'll be eating every one of us at any moment!"

"No, she won't! She wouldn't hurt anybody!"

"You weren't supposed to let things like this happen, Max!"

"Carol," Douglas said.

Max didn't know what else to say. He felt tears perched on the edge of his eyes, teetering precariously, preparing their descent down his face. He hardly noticed Bella was done hiding and was now crouching protectively, baring her fangs at Carol for calling her names again. He hardly noticed that the others were now huddling together, almost making a protective barrier against Carol.

This was something he had done to them.

Another mistake he'd made.

"I'm sorry!" Max said it to Carol, but meant it for the others, too. He felt simply awful.

"Carol!" Douglas said a little louder, trying to get his friend's attention.

"That's not good enough!" Carol said to Max. "You're a terrible king!"

"Carol!" Douglas shouted above the noise.

"WHAT?"

Douglas looked sadly at his best friend. "He's not our king."

"What?" Carol repeated.

_Douglas…why are you doing this? _Max was too dumbfounded to tell him to stop talking.

"There's no such thing as a king," Douglas explained.

"Don't say that," Carol said angrily. "Don't you _dare_ say that!"

The others began to mumble, just as surprised by the news. "I should have listened to myself," Max heard Judith say.

Max looked at Alexander. The smallest wild thing gave him sad eyes and an even sadder smile.

"He's just a boy pretending to be a wolf pretending to be a king," Douglas said.

"That's not true. Don't you _say_ that!" Carol warned.

"It's true, Carol."

"Douglas…" This growl came from Bella, her teeth still showing. Both wild things ignored her.

"No! That's not true!" Carol shouted.

"Look, I just went along with it because I knew how much you wanted it," Douglas continued.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Carol hollered, grabbing onto Douglas's arm.

"No, Carol! What are you doing? STOP!" Max cried. His voice was drowned out by many voices crying out in unison. Nothing could prepare them for what they were about to see.

With a mighty grunt, Carol pulled on Douglas's arm. It came off as easily as if he'd picked a dandelion. Sand came out of the hole that remained.

_OH MY GOD! _Max screamed in his mind, his eyes growing huge. This wasn't happening. This _couldn't_ be happening!

"Oh, Carol! That was my favorite arm!" Douglas said, trying to stop the flow of sand.

"I didn't pull it off!" Carol insisted. "I was just holding onto it! _You_ pulled away!" He didn't want to believe he'd just done something that drastic.

"Carol, stop it!" Max pleaded.

Something seemed to sink into Carol's brain. "You _lied_?"

"Carol, don't come any closer!" Bella warned him, at this time protectively crouching over Max.

"I don't take orders from leeches!" Carol said, pushing her over. She fell on her injured arm, but quickly sat up, breathing heavily from the pain and glaring at Carol.

"Not so powerful now!" Carol taunted as Max saw painful tears roll down Bella's face.

"_Stop_ it!" Max cried, standing in front of her. "You're hurting her!"

"So? It doesn't matter! You lied about her, too, didn't you? She's not your sister! She's not a vampire! She's meaningless!"

"Just stop, Carol! This isn't some sort of game of yours!"

"Games? You think _I'm _playing games? You _lied_ to me!"

"You're out of control!" Max echoed words he'd heard long ago.

"I'm _not_ out of control!" Carol's eyes were brimming with tears. "You were supposed to take care of us! You promised!"

Max felt his breathing quicken, his mind frozen, not knowing what to do.

"I'LL EAT YOU UP!" Carol roared loudly, raising his claws threateningly.

Now he knew exactly what to do.

He hurried away from the wild things, away from Bella, and away from Carol.

It was the only thing that could keep him alive now.


	42. 38: The Revelation

_Hey, everyone! Sorry it's taking me so long to update my stories! I just got finished being a counselor at a theater camp, and that was SUPER draining! Plus I have summer reading...yuck! Anyway, I have three weeks off before I have to do another camp, so I figure this is a good time to catch up._

_This is the second half of the Carol-chasing-Max episode (the KW-eats-Max part). I happen to have read some negative comments about this part of the movie, and all of them say the same thing: Why in the bleep did Max hide in KW's stomach? That really makes sense: he escapes getting eaten by Carol by getting eaten by KW. This movie is stupid and gay, blah blah blah. This is what I say to them: IT'S A MOVIE! I think the ironic factor of Max hiding inside KW gives the movie more personality. It lets Max and KW have another cute little moment together. And, in my opinion, it's a take on the statement, "I'll eat you up, I love you so."_

_Oh, and Max's revelation about families: yes, I got it from the trailer of "The Last Song" (don't know if the movie's any good, but the book was AMAZING!) When I first watched it, I thought about how much it related to the message of this movie. And I was trying to find the perfect character to say it and the perfect time for said character to say it. And when I was typing this, I finally found the who and the when. _

_Okay, enough of my rants about the movie. Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!_

...

_"Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love. But that doesn't mean you love them any less. Sometimes, it even makes you love them more." _- The Last Song

...

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Revelation

_OhmyGodohmyGodOHMYGOD!_

Max pushed aside the low hanging branches of the forest trees, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He could hear crashing not far behind him.

He didn't know this forest all that well. At the moment, it didn't really matter. Whatever he ended up running into, it couldn't be worse than Carol.

He couldn't recall why he was running from one of his best friends. The screams filling his ears - Were they Carol's? His own? Both combined? - were enough to erase his memory.

He kept running, but Carol was faster than him. Soon, the wild thing would catch up, and Max would be eaten.

"Come back here, Max!" Carol roared angrily.

Max tripped, but quickly picked himself up. His side was starting to ache, but he pushed himself to keep going. He wasn't going to get eaten. Not now.

"MAX!"

He turned his head, fearful that he might see Carol. While watching behind him, he ran into something. As he fell over, he was afraid that he'd run into Carol.

"Come on!" a female voice said urgently.

Max looked up into the face of KW. Her hair was a mess and her fur was streaked with dirt, but there was no mistaking the alarmed look on her face.

"Come here!" she said, exasperated. She pulled at his foot, and dragged him into the underbrush. Max was perfectly still, choosing not to fight.

Carol's screams sounded closer by the minute. Max huddled closer to KW.

"Quick, get inside!" she said, gesturing to her mouth.

Max stared at her. _What?_

"Get in!" she said hurriedly. "Crawl inside my mouth! I'll hide you."

Max wasn't sure he wanted to do that. He was already running from one wild thing's mouth. For a second, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do: face Carol or follow KW's instructions.

Max had a revelation. KW was helping him. She wasn't going to hurt him - not on purpose, anyway. He kept telling himself that as her mouth opened wider and wider. It was dark inside, and all he could see were her sharp teeth. He hesitated.

A growl reached his ears. He jumped into KW's mouth and slid down her throat. He let out a yelp of disgust. It was slimy in her stomach, and very hot. But at least he was safe. He noticed a raccoon sitting next to him, eating something.

"Hi, Richard," he said.

"MAX!"

_Oh, no. _Carol was here. Max tried to quiet his breathing and movements.

"Where is he?" Carol asked quietly. The sound was muffled-sounding.

"I don't know."

"Where is he?" Carol asked louder.

"I don't know!" KW repeated.

"I can _smell _him!"

Silence. Max froze, trying not to breathe but finding that quite difficult, for there wasn't a lot of air inside KW's stomach.

"I just wanna talk to him!" Carol said, breaking the silence.

"You're out of control!" KW told him.

"I'm _not _out of control!" Carol sounded as if he were sick of hearing that phrase. Max knew he himself was.

"You were gonna eat him!" KW said tersley.

"No, no I wasn't...I wasn't going to..." Carol stuttered. "I don't know, I just _said _it!"

Silence again. Max wasn't sure what was happening now.

"Am I as bad as he says I am?" Carol asked. Max felt his heart starting to split down the middle. Carol really sounded sorry for chasing him.

"Just go away," KW said.

"I just...wanted us all to be together." Muffled footsteps sounded outside, getting fainter and fainter.

Max felt KW sitting down. "Can you believe him?" she asked, still angry.

Max found his voice, which was small and weak. He wasn't sure if it was from being in KW's stomach or if it was from being scared.

"He doesn't mean to be that way, KW. He's just scared."

KW sighed. "Well, he only makes it harder. And...it's hard enough already."

Max had a momentary flash-back to his own family. His workaholic mom, his conceited eldest sister, his sweet yet loud middle sister. And then him: wild and out of control. All different personalities living under the same roof. A lot of the times it was difficult to live with those three - and it didn't help that they were all girls.

"But...he loves you. You're his family."

KW sighed again. "It's hard being a family," she said simply.

_She's right. It's very hard. But...families fight sometimes. Or a lot of the time. And...sometimes we have to be apart from each other to figure things out. But that doesn't mean we love each other any less that we did before. Sometimes...it makes you miss them...and love them even more._

For a moment, Max was stunned at this advice he'd given himself. He finally knew what needed to happen.

But first things first. He was starting to pass out in here.

"I can't breathe that well," he said breathlessly. "Can I come out now?"

She seemed to pause. But then he saw her claw reach down, and out he came. He started breathing heavily, thankful he finally had some oxygen in his lungs. She set him down next to her and started smoothing out his slime-covered hair.

"I wish you guys had a mom," he said quietly. Things were a lot easier with moms around, even if they were annoying sometimes.

They smiled sadly at each other and didn't say anything for a minute. Then Max worked up the courage to tell her what he was going to do.

"Me and Bella are gonna go home now."


	43. 39: I'm Going Back

_We're getting closer to the end of the movie section of this fanfic! I know, it's kind of sad...but that means it gives me more room to express my creativity lol!_

_About the first part of the chapter: After watching this movie for the billionth time, I wondered why Max never really "made up" with any of the other Wild Things (besides Carol). It kind of felt out-of-place, in a way. So I tried to formulate as best I could what conversation Max might have had with the others telling them how sorry he is for screwing up._

...

Chapter Thirty-Nine: I'm Going Back

Although he knew that leaving the island as soon as possible would be the best option, Max also felt that he owed the Wild Things an apology at least. After all that had happened because of him, he wanted them to know how sorry he was and how he wished he could take all the pain and suffering he caused them away. Even if they did hate him, he didn't want to leave them without tying loose ends.

Everyone - save Carol and Bella - was sitting quietly in the fort when he and KW returned. They looked up when they heard footsteps, but didn't look away when they saw who it was.

"Um...hi," Max said.

He was answered with silence.

"I just wanted to say...I'm sorry," Max said, tears threatening to pour from his eyes. "I know I've said that a lot lately, but I'm sorry. For everything. It didn't turn out the way I thought it would."

"Ooh, shocking," Judith remarked.

"Judith," Douglas scolded. "Let him talk." Max noticed for the first time that Douglas's right arm socket was now being occupied by a stick with three prongs on the end that looked like fingers. He nodded at Max to continue.

"I'm not a king. I'm not a superwolf. I'm just a regular boy...I'm me. And I know that compared to who you thought I was...well...Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that...I have to leave now."

This caught everyone attention. They muttered among themselves, confused and surprised.

"Do you really have to?" Alexander asked.

"Yes," Max told him. "If I stay...there's no telling what else might happen. I seem to ruin everyplace I go. But maybe...maybe if I leave, I can have a part in putting things right again here."

There was another silence. But this one was more stunned than the first.

"So, yeah. I, um, am leaving...and I really am sorry." He turned and exited the fort, taking deep breaths as he did.

KW followed him. "Thanks for that, Max."

He turned. "It was bad, wasn't it?"

"No." She gave him a smile. "I really think they needed to hear you say that. Coming from you, not from...the King or...you know."

Max nodded. "Well, there are a few things I still need to do before I leave."

"What's that?"

He looked beyond the rocks. "I have to find Carol and Bella."

...

Max breathed heavily as he ran through the desert. The sun wasn't very high, but it was hot, and Max desperately wanted to take his wolf suit off. (He didn't, however; underneath were his sweater and jeans, and he didn't see how much better it would be simply wearing those.)

He climbed the rocks to Carol's secret place, hoping his friend was there. He'd looked everywhere else he could be, but it seemed as if Carol had taken off without leaving a trace behind.

"Carol!" Max called as he entered. He felt his heart sink as he stared at his surroundings.

Carol had been here, all right. The whole place was wrecked. Max tried to picture how it had been before: a scale-model of the perfect world, with tall mountains, waterways running through the roads, tunnels below. Now all that was in pieces. The mountains were cut in half, the water was drained, and dirt lay everywhere. The figures of the Wild Things were either smashed or broken.

Max willed his feet to move through the damages, trying to find something that hadn't been destroyed. He had no such luck.

_Carol, why? Why did you do this?_

Max remembered the day he wrecked Claire's room. It hadn't looked as bad as this, but he had asked himself the same question:

Why?

_Because of my temper. Because I was angry. Because Claire hurt me and I wanted to teach her a lesson._

_But it was only hurting myself more._

Bella was right. He and Carol _were_ a lot alike.

Max thought some more about everything that had happened, and decided what he needed to do. He left something for Carol before leaving the once-safe place, hoping he could find the Wild Thing before he left.

...

He was sitting with Douglas on a ledge overlooking the fort. They were talking about something.

Max slowed down, cautiously walking up to them. He knew Douglas wasn't going to attack, but he wasn't so sure about Carol.

The two of them watched as he approached. Carol looked dejected, and his eyes were red.

Douglas stood up. "Max."

Max sat down, taking this as a cue that they were about to be left alone.

"Well...um...yeah." Douglas patted Carol on the shoulder. "Yeah." Sure enough, Douglas walked away right then.

Max and Carol sat in an uncomfortable silence for a minute before Carol broke it.

"So...whatever happened with you and the Vikings?"

He had almost forgotten about that story he'd fabricated. Max knew he had to appraoch this topic gently, because he didn't know if Carol was still angry.

"Well, in the end...I had to leave."

"Why?" Carol looked at him, pleading him not to go. Max knew part of him didn't want to leave, but the other part told him he had to. He went on, forcing himself not to sound too sad.

"I'm not a Viking, or a King, or...or anything."

"So what are you then?"

He paused and looked up at Carol. "I'm Max."

Carol looked away. "Well," he said, getting up and walking away. "That isn't very much, is it?"

...

He wandered to the cliff in the woods, not very surprised that his sister's alter ego was sitting there already. She had her eyes closed as if she were meditating, and he tried not to make a sound.

"Hello, Max."

He stopped midstep. He sat down and braced himself for a reprimanding that was sure to be brutal.

She opened her eyes, not looking at him. She didn't say anything, so he assumed that he would be talking first.

But she beat him to it.

"KW told me about what happened last night. I thought I was going to have a conniption."

_It looks like you already did. _Max could tell from the black running down her face and her bloodshot eyes that she must have been hysterical.

"I would have followed him and made sure you didn't get hurt, but the others wouldn't let me. Douglas and I went through the Judith treatment-"

"Judith?" Max couldn't believe his ears.

Bella finally turned to look at him. "She's a lot more caring than we give her credit for. And, yes, she fixed both of us up, with help from Ira, Alex, and the Bull. After, I still wanted to go after you, but Judith said it wouldn't be smart. Carol's too unpredictable when he gets that way."

_You don't even know the half of it..._

"So when morning came, I figured you were dead by then. So I ran off in the woods to be by myself. A few hours later, KW showed up and filled me in on what happened. She said you would come and find me and tell me what we were going to do. So here I've been most of the day, waiting for you."

Max waited a moment as that soaked into his brain before he started.

"Bella...I'm sorry."

Her mouth turned up at the corners a little. "I know you are. And...I'm sorry, too."

"You don't have to be. I really screwed up. The Wild Things...I ruined their lives. I pretended to be something I'm not, just because of..." He couldn't say it; he couldn't talk about his family yet without crying.

Bella sighed. "I shouldn't have expected as much as I did from you. I knew what was happening, but I didn't let it sink in. I was too busy holding a grudge against you for keeping me in your brain for so long."

Max smiled. "Well, if I had to sit in my brain for four years, I think I'd be the same way."

They laughed, and Max knew that Bella was okay now.

"We're going home now, aren't we?" she asked.

"It's the right thing to do," Max said. "I can't be here any longer. And I...you were right the first day you were here. I've been homesick for a while now. I miss my mom and my sisters so much. But I wasn't about to admit that to myself."

"Bella must be worried sick," Bella said. "I mean, she's been out in the cold, looking for you."

Max shook his head. "I can't believe her sometimes. She's so impulsive and she doesn't think. She could catch something if she's not careful."

"She sounds a lot like someone I know..." Bella gave him a knowing look, and Max smiled.

"She's lived long enough with me," he said jokingly.

"So...you ready to go home, Max?"

Max looked out over the ocean, imagining his house and his family.

"Yeah. Definitely."


	44. 40: Fly Away Home

_Hey! __This may sound like I'm on crack, but if the past few chapters haven't been good, you guys can seriously let me know! I don't bite. I've been working on a "personal fic" for _The Last Airbender_, and I've been around all that wooden dialogue for a while. So if I put some of that in my writing by mistake, you guys can tell me, and I'll fix it. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! No one's been reviewing in a while..._

_Oh, and a little information about this chapter: this is the final part of Bella's dream, intertwined with what happens on the island. Here's a key to help:_

_STUFF IN ITALICS: What's going on in Bella's dream_

STUFF IN REGULAR TYPE: What's going on through the eyes of Max

_Oh, and the very end was inpirsed by _The Lovely Bones_. I don't own that._

_This was probably the hardest chapter to type. This part of the movie is always so bittersweet. It makes me cry!_

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Forty: Fly Away Home

**My Weird, Crazy Dream - Part VIII**

**As told in 1st Person by Bella Carson**

_The next day, all the Wild Things are gathered on the beach, looking a little sad. __And then it hits me._

_Max and I are really going home._

_And I notice, for the first time, how much I miss my mom and Claire and Tori and everyone back home. I notice how much I _want_ to go back. _

_I know Max feels the same way. He must be exhausted and ready to go back to the real world. But I can never be sure. My brother can choose to be unreadable when he wants to be. But by the way he's looking around at his friends and wishing he could stay, I know that inside, he really wants to go home._

...

Max walked down the beach, closely followed by KW and Bella. The Wild Things were there: the Bull standing off by himself; Judith, Ira, and Alexander in a group; and Douglas preparing the boat for its journey. Max felt his chest clench with sadness.

Saying goodbye was yet another thing he wasn't really good at. When he was little, he'd always cry; as he got older, it was became awkward, because he never knew what to say to anyone. Now he felt a strange sense of confidence welling within him. These beasts had taught him something about life. This time he was determined to do this right.

...

_I go around and give a quick hug to everyone. I didn't know them for very long, so I don't really know what to tell them except for the standard, "Bye." Max takes longer than me; with each one, it's different. I smile as I head toward the boat._

...

They walked by the Bull first. Max was going to nod in recognition when something surprising reached his ears.

"Hey...hey, Max."

He looked up. The Bull had finally spoken. It was quiet and shy, not at all like he'd pictured it.

"When you go home," the Bull said, "will you say good things about us?"

Now that he thought about it, this voice fit the Bull perfectly. Max smiled a little.

"Yeah," he told him. "I will."

"Thanks, Max," the Bull said.

Bella stared up at the Bull before startling him with a hug. "I'm glad you finally talked," she said.

Max then appraoched Ira, Judith, and Alexander. Ira was smiling, but Max could tell that he was trying not to cry. Max gave him a hug, burying his face in Ira's fur.

"You're the first king we haven't eaten," Judith said quietly. (**Yes, I know! She finally did it!**)

"Yeah," Alexander piped up. "It's true."

"Thanks," Max said, although he was sure it wasn't audible.

There was a pause. Max could feel the awkwardness, and groaned mentally.

But Judith's voice cut through it.

"See ya," she said lightly.

"Bye, Max," Alexander said.

"Bye."

Bella lagged behind to give each Wild Thing a hug.

"You know," Judith said. "You're pretty cool. For a vampire."

Bella smiled. "Thank you."

"Thanks for not eating us," Ira chimed in.

"You're welcome."

"Bye, Bella."

Her smile grew a little at his simple words. "Bye, Alex."

They continued their walk to the ocean. Douglas was standing by the boat, waiting for them.

...

Carol growled, angry and confused. Why would Max just leave him like this? It wasn't fair.

He walked through the remains of his model, coming to a stop. There, on the floor, was something he'd never seen before now.

It was a pile of twigs arranged in the shape of a heart. And in the middle of the heart was the letter "C".

For Carol.

Carol sat down. Max had been here and left that for him. After all the terrible things Carol had done, Max was willing to remind Carol of the friendship they still had.

Carol sobbed, clutching his head. Now Max was gone, and he couldn't tell him how sorry he was.

Or...was he?

...

Carol ran across the desert, hoping it wasn't too late.

...

_Douglas and KW push the boat into the water, lifting Max and me in as they do. I give each Wild Thing a hug, and then Max shakes hands with Douglas and shares an embrace with KW. Max looks up the beach, and I know he wishes Carol were here._

...

Douglas, Ira, and KW pushed the sailboat into the water. Ira backed away, joining Alexander and Judith, who were hugging each other. The Bull continued to stand by himself.

Max looked up the beach, hoping to see Carol. But the Wild Thing wasn't there. Max told himself not to be disappointed. He didn't blame Carol for not coming. But he still wished that he could see his friend one last time.

KW lifted Max into the boat, Douglas doing the same for Bella. She gave Douglas a hug and told him thank you.

KW's yellow eyes were filled with tears. "Don't go, Max," she pleaded. "I'll eat you up, I love you so."

She hugged him, and they stayed like that for a few minutes. Finally, KW let him go, and Bella stepped forward.

"Thank you for saving him," she said, hugging KW. "And for being so kind."

Then KW pushed the boat, and it started to float away.

...

_The boat begins to drift out. Suddenly Carol comes around the bend. He wades into the water, giving Max and I one of the most heartbreaking looks I've ever seen. He begins to howl, and Max takes up his lead. The others and I follow._

_Then Max and I turn our backs on the island, setting sail for home._

...

Max heard labored breathing on the shore. He jerked his head, and there was Carol. He ran all the way to the water, wading out leg deep. He was still crying, and he didn't say a word. But Max knew he didn't have to.

Carol wanted him to stay. His tear-filled eyes told him that. As he began to cry himself, Max gave Carol a smile, full of sorrow and hope. Bella took one of his hands.

Howling filled the air. It was coming from Carol. It was the sound of a life that would never return.

Max joined his friend, quietly immitating his cries. He could hear Bella doing the same.

Soon, the other six Wild Things added their voices, and the sound, although mournful, was weaved with light and the hope of better things.

And even though the sound started to fade as the boat went further out, the chilling meaning was still strong.

...

The ride back felt a lot faster than the initial. Maybe it was because Bella was with him. Maybe it was because they had so much to talk about. Maybe it was because Max was anxious to see his home and family again.

Whatever the reason, Max saw lights in the distance one night, knowing it was his home.

"Look!" he cried, pointing. "We're back! We're home!"

He noticed that she didn't agree wit him. He turned to look at her, confused.

"Aren't you excited?"

"I _am _excited," she said. "For you."

"What do you mean?"

She laughed. "Max, this isn't my home. My home is in here." She put a finger to Max's forehead.

He had almost forgotten. She didn't really belong in this world.

"Can't you stay?" he asked. He didn't want her to leave just yet. She had just broken free from his head.

"I think it would be best if I went back now," she said, a touch of sadness in her voice. "My friends will be worried about me."

Max looked at the bottom of the boat. "Will you visit?"

"Of course I will." She tossled his hair. "As often as you want me to."

He looked up at that and sighed. "Okay."

They sat for a moment, staring at each other. Then Max scurried to Bella and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm going to miss you." He felt tears coming from his eyes.

"I'll miss you, too," she said. "But I'm never far away. Remember that."

After they let go, Bella gave him instructions about how to send her back. "While I picture where I want to be, repeat over and over in your mind, 'Fly away home'."

Max closed his eyes. _Fly away home. Fly away home. Fly away home._

A blinding light was in front of him. He squinted as Bella became a ball of sparks, zooming around the boat and finally going into his head. He felt his pupils dialate for a moment, and then grow to normal size.

And when he turned around, he saw that he had reached the shore of the lake in the woods.

...

You may think his journey's over now.

Almost.

But not quite.

Max still has a few things left to do.


	45. 41: A Promise Kept

_Part of this was inspired by the "Never Let Go" scene in _Titanic_. Which I don't own._

_And I made this one long! It didn't start out like that, but it turned out that way. So you guys get an extra-long chapter!_

_Enjoy!_

...

Chapter Forty-One: A Promise Kept

Max hopped out of the boat and tore across the woods. He ducked under the hole in the fence and ran down the street, the winter air biting at his face. A neighborhood dog barked at him, and he barked back, happy that he was in his own neighborhood.

He came to a halt. He wanted more than anything to go home. But he knew that someone else wanted to go home, also. And he was sure that this someone was still out there, freezing and worrying about him.

He went off down a side street, following his instincts and hoping they were right.

...

Bella slowly lifted her head off of her backpack. She gazed around, her mind weighed down by sleep. It almost looked like she was outside. That was weird. Because she was...

Actually outside.

Everything came rushing back to her. Her watch face stated that it was now 11:30. She shook her head and felt like crying. Things just couldn't work out for her, could they?

She heard howling. It sounded like one of the neighbor's dogs. Whatever it was barking about, she didn't care. She wanted peace and quiet.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

It grew louder and more annoying. "Shut up," she said again.

Now it sounded closer. "God, SHUT UP!" she shouted.

But as she listened, it didn't sound like a dog. It sounded more like a person barking like a dog.

And there was only one person who sounded just like that.

"No way," she said to herself as she got up from the bench. She looked down the street, and rounding the corner came a boy in a dirty wolf suit.

"MAX!" Her head exploded into a thousand different thoughts at once; the one that was the loudest was telling her to run.

And she did.

Her boots flopped against the wet gravel as she raced toward him; her vision was blurring, but she kept going. He became clearer, closer, more real by the second.

Bella had heard that sometimes life seemed to slow down, and things would happen in slow-motion, like in the movies. This is what it felt like. Everything around her stood out in stark contrast, and her movements decelerated.

It ended soon enough. Her brother's arms were around her waist, and hers around his shoulders. Her chin rested on the crown of his head as she cried tears of joy.

"Thank goodness," she said. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Max said nothing, but he clung tighter. "How long have you been out here?"

"I don't know...a few hours, I think. Mom and Gary were talking about how you had run out the door, and I got worried. So I snuck out to look for you."

"But...I know you hate the dark," Max said, pulling away and looking at the ground. "And...and you hate me, too."

Bella tilted his chin up so he was looking at her. "Max, I'm sorry about what I said," she told him. "I didn't mean it. I got frustrated. So very, very frustrated." She sighed. "I know that things haven't been exactly, you know, great and all...but Dad once said that I can't give up, no matter how hopeless things get."

Max's eyes widened. "So, even though you were scared, you still kept at it?"

"Of course I did! I knew I'd find you eventually." She paused. "Remember when we were little? The night I slept in your room?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've told you: people get angry. I got angry with you tonight. But that doesn't mean I don't care. Things happen, and people lose their tempers. But I would never let something terrible happen to you." She kissed him on the forehead and held him close. "I love you, Max."

"I love you, too, Bella," he said, hugging her back.

Things right then seemed perfect. And they were. But, of course, life in Bella's world could never really be perfect. All the same, when she saw the car turn down the street, she felt like a deer caught in headlights - so to speak.

"No way..." she said again.

It was the same car, with the same mysterious guy. And she knew he'd be really ticked off now, considering the pepper spray and the water bottle.

But now it was personal. She wasn't going to let this creep harm Max.

"Max," she whispered. "I don't want you to panic."

"Huh?" Max looked up at her.

"Keep calm, okay?" She tried to keep a calm face herself. "Just don't panic..."

"What are you...?" He saw the street was lit up, and he turned toward the lights.

"Max, we gotta run!" She grabbed his wrist.

"Hey!" the guy from the car called. "Wait!"

"Come on!" They scampered off, Bella dragging Max down the street and Max struggling to keep up with her. The car's engine roared, and it followed them closely.

Bella didn't have a shread of an idea where she was taking Max. But as long as it was far away from the crazy guy, she was up for anything. They ran down street after street, passed house after house, dodged car after car, and still he was after them. He was serious now.

They were coming up to a four-way intersection. She could choose to go straight, or take a sharp left. She chose at the last possible minute, and almost fell over trying to round the corner. While trying to keep her balance, she felt that something wasn't right. She straightened up and turned.

"Bella!" Max's eyes were widened by fear. When they were trying to turn the corner, the guy had caught up with them and reached out his hand to grab them. She had accidentally let go of Max's hand when she was fighting to maintain her balance, and the guy now had part of Max's wolf suit in his fist.

"Gotcha," the guy said meanly. "Now, you're going to get in like a good girl, or Bugs Bunny here gets it."

_No. Not Max. I'll do whatever you want. Just...not Max. _She walked toward the car.

"Bella, don't do it," Max pleaded.

"Max, I don't have a choice," she said.

"Yes, you do!" He turned his head and bit the guy's arm.

"OW! YOU LITTLE MONSTER!" he screamed, letting go of Max's fur.

Max took Bella's hand again, and they went off down the street.

"What was with you?" Max exclaimed, keeping up but running out of breath. "You weren't gonna get in his car, were you?"

Bella shook her head. "Max...I didn't know what to do. I panicked."

"You were gonna risk harming both of us just because you believed what some creepy guy tells you?"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I shouldn't have done that. But...I've had run-ins with him already tonight and-"

"You know him?"

"Not really," she said. "He's just some stalker guy trying to kidnap me or something. And now he's after you, too. I'm sorry. I should have been watching for him."

"Bella," Max said, "I don't want to be rude, but can you please stop having a pity party for yourself right now? I accept your apology, but we've got more important things to worry about!"

The headlights illuminated their path. "Oh, great!" Bella muttered.

"Follow me," Max said, running through a yard.

"Max! What are you doing?"

"Don't ask questions!" the nine-year-old said. "Just come on!"

Bella followed him through a number of successive yards before they came to a hole in a wire fence that faced the side of a house.

"What is this?" Bella asked.

Max shuffled his feet sheepishly. "Well...some of the neighborhood kids made this. We sneak in here all the time to play tricks on Mrs. Dawson."

Bella sighed. "If we weren't running for our lives, I would be sooooo angry at you," Bella said as she climbed in after him.

They crawled into some bushes that were against the wooden fence that separated the front yard from the back yard. There was a small hole, big enough for Bella and Max to look through if they took turns.

"See anything?" Max asked.

"No...," Bella said. But she knew she'd spoken too soon as she saw approaching lights. "Yes."

The guy pulled his car up to the curb and slammed the door. "I know you're there! And I'm not leaving until you come out. I'll wait all night, if I have to!"

Bella turned away from the hole and looked at Max. "This guy is seriously bugging me."

"How did he find us?"

"He's just weird like that, I guess."

"We can't stay here long," Max said. "We gotta get home."

"I know. Maybe he was making it up. He's probably gonna leave in five minutes. Then we can go, okay?"

"Alright," Max said.

Bella checked her watch. It was 11:36. She planned to make it home by 11:45. And it was going to happen.

...

**12:20 a.m.**

...

"It's so cold out..." Max said. He shivered violently, even with Bella's warm coat on.

"I know it is." Bella hugged herself, watching her breath float away on the night air. She peered through the hole. "But he's still there. We can't leave until he does."

"Are we...ever...gonna...go back?"

"Of...course we are," Bella said, her teeth chattering.

Max snuggled closer to her. "Bella, I'm...scared. He might...climb...over the...fence...and do...something. I...don't...want...to die."

She was silent for a moment. Max decided that she was thinking about things. And he was right.

"Don't say that, Max," she said, her voice sharp. "Don't say stuff like that. We're gonna make it out of this."

"I'm really cold..."

Bella blew into her hands and rubbed his arms. "We're gonna make it. It's not gonna end like this. We're gonna go home in a second, and Mom's gonna be there, and tomorrow Claire's gonna be there. We are gonna make it home. It's not over. We can't lose hope. Not now."

"My toes feel numb," Max said, still shaking. "It's so dark outside...what if he..."

"Max!" Bella snapped. He was taken aback, but then she took on a gentler tone. "Please don't think like that. We have to think positive."

"But..."

"Just do it for me," she said. "Can you promise me that?"

Max looked to the side. "I don't..."

"Can you promise me something else, then?"

"Okay."

"Promise me you won't do something this stupid again, all right? And if you do, you have to promise me that if things look really bad, that you won't give up without a fight. Even if things look completely hopeless."

Max was slightly overwhelmed, but he found himself nodding nonetheless. "Okay. I promise," he said, quivering.

"And...and never let go of your promise."

He recognized those words immediately, and knew what to follow them up with.

"I'll never let go, Bella."

She smiled, but it was quickly shattered.

"That's it!" the guy said. "I'm coming over!"

"Max stay down!" Bella whispered urgently. "Don't let him see us!"

Max layed down on the cold, hard ground, trying to ignore the fact that he was colder than ever.

He heard the fence begin to creak as the guy tried to climb over it, but he kept falling off. What kind of bad guy would be so incompetent that he would...?

Oh.

That kind.

Max had figured out who this guy was.

"Bella, I know who that is," he said.

"What?"

"I know who's chasing us. It's..."

"Who's making all that racket?" came a voice from inside the house. The lights turned on, and old Mrs. Dawson came out in her nightgown. "Who's trespassing on my lawn at this hour?"

She went up to the guy and grabbed him by the collar. "What do you think you're doing?"

"There are kids," he said, sounding insane, "behind your fence. They're hiding."

"It's not your job to chase kids out of my yard, it's mine!" she said angrily.

"Patty?" Mr. Dawson's voice floated out of the house. "Who is that?"

"Some riffraff claiming that there are kids hiding in our backyard again! As if those little punks would try something like that this late at night."

"You want me to get the shovel?"

Max stiffened.

"Sure, why not?"

"I'm telling the truth! I swear!" the guy insisted

"We'll see soon enough!" Mrs. Dawson said.

The rest of the block was starting to wake up from the commotion, and Max saw through the hole that there were a lot of people coming out of their house in their pajamas.

"Great, look what you did!" Mrs. Dawson told the guy. "Now you've woken up the entire neighborhood! I hope you're happy!"

"They're distracted," Max said.

"Now would be a good time to leave," Bella said.

Max led her quietly to the hole in the fence that faced the sidewalk. They slipped through and tiptoed down the dark street, finally running when they were far enough away.

"Okay," Bella said. "That was seriously way too close."

Max was too busy thinking to agree. "I think I know where we are!" he said excitedly. "There's the park! We've only got two more blocks to go!"

"Then let's go home," Bella said jokingly. "Mom's gonna kill me when she figures out what we've been through tonight."

They set off down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand, preparing themselves for what was to come when they finally made it home.


	46. 42: Food Is Still Hot

_This one is really short; sorry! I'll try to make the next one a bit longer. _

_The idea for cream-of-mushroom soup came from _The Wild Things _by Dave Eggers. I don't own it._

_The idea that the chocolate cake was super yummy came from none other than Max Records's dad, stating that when they filmed this scene, he got to eat some of the cake and it was super good. So yeah._

_The chapter title: taken from Track 13 of the _Where The Wild Things Are _soundtrack._

...

Chapter Forty-Two: Food Is Still Hot

The lights were still on in their house. _Mom must still be up_, Bella thought.

Max suddenly stopped. Bella turned around and smiled.

"It's okay, Max. I'm right here. Everything's okay."

But was it? She had no idea how Connie was going to react to all this. First Max ran away, then Bella snuck out to find him. And then tomorrow she would learn about the thing with the creepy guy.

"Just take a deep breath," she said, squeezing his hand. "We'll do this together."

Her brother nodded, and they walked up the steps of the house.

Max cracked the door open and poked his head inside. The front hall lights were on, but no one was there. The same was true for the kitchen.

"No one's here," Max said.

"Maybe she fell asleep," Bella whispered back.

Max breathed out and stepped into the house, walking cautiously down the hallway. Bella followed, trying not to make a lot of clumping noises with her boots.

They reached the end of the hall and peered into the living room. Just as Bella was about to sigh in frustration, the sound of a chair rubbing against the hardwood floor was heard.

Max and Bella whipped their heads toward the sound. Connie came toward them and sank to her knees, grabbing her children and wrapping them in a tight hug.

Bella stood motionless. There wasn't a hint of anger in her mother's actions. Instead, it was just relief. Sheer relief that they had finally come home safely.

Connie let go and looked at Max. She slid the hood off of his head and hugged him again. Bella saw that Max didn't mind. He was simply happy to see her, happy to be back after a long night.

Connie then turned her attention to her middle child. Bella shrugged, and Connie shook her head, letting out a cross between a laugh and a sob.

"Thank you," she said, hugging her.

Bella brought her own arms around her mother, leaning her head on her shoulder and feeling like she was five years old again. Revisiting the time when the world seemed like a scary place, but things would turn out okay because Connie was her mother, and mothers knew everything.

She and Max finally got their dinner. Connie had made them cream-of-mushroom soup - Max's favorite. Max gobbled it down; Bella took her time, even though her stomach was growling.

While Max was shoveling the soup into his mouth, it began to dribble down his chiln. Bella giggled. "Max, you need to slow down," she joked, wiping his face with a napkin. Connie watched the two of them sitting side-by-side and laughing.

After they finished their soup, they each got a piece of chocolate cake and some milk. It was the best cake Bella had ever eaten.

During this time, Connie had fallen asleep. Max watched for a moment, and then looked at Bella. They watched their mother silently.

It was then that Bella decided that being apart of this family wasn't such a bad thing after all. They were all different, like the Wild Things in her dreams; but they put up with each other and helped each other, despite all that. She kept this in mind as she trudged up the stairs and got ready for bed.

She was about to turn off the light when she figured that she should check on Max. She wanted to make sure he was still there; it was a stupid thing to worry about, but after that night's ordeal, she wasn't sure what to expect.

He was sitting on his bed, in his pajamas, looking out the window. His wolfsuit and his clothes were on the floor in a heap. He looked up when she came in.

"I just wanted to make sure you were in bed," she told him. She sat on the edge of his bed, seeing for the first time how worn out he really was.

"Can...can you sing to me?" he asked.

She frowned. "I don't know, Max..." It was late, and she wanted to sleep.

"The song from the ship? Please?"

She blinked. "I thought you didn't like that song."

He beamed through his weariness. "I changed my mind. I think it's nice. And...I really like it when you sing."

She couldn't help but beam back at him, and sang the Love Theme for a while to calm him down. Eventually, she found herself laying down and closing her eyes and drifting off...

...

The next morning, Connie awoke with a jerk. Her head had fallen out of the cradle of her arms and had hit the table.

She looked around, delerious from sleep for a second. Then her eyes fell on the dishes laying in front of her.

And she remembered.

...

She walked up the stairs to Max's room and opened the door. She saw her children, sleeping soundly next to each other. She smiled, and shut the door behind her.


	47. Elphie's Back!

_Hola! I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! It's that dang voice inside my head…it keeps telling me that someone will hate my writing, and I get scared of it way too easily. But I'm back!_

_I'm sorry if you guys thought that this was over…LOL I couldn't abandon it now! There are way too many loose ends I need to tie up! So, for the time being, that's pretty much what I'm gonna do: put in filler chapters to clean up some subplots I introduced a while back (which include show choir, the fight with Tori, and Bella's crush on Nick). _

_If I get any more ideas after that, then I'll continue…but for right now, I think Max has had enough excitement for the time being. ;) _

_Before I end this long author's note, I want to let you guys know that at one point, I was toying with killing off Bella. I know, I know...but I figured that her "heaven" would be the Wild Things island. But then when I thought about it, I realized I didn't want to write sad, sappy stuff like that. So Bella will live! She'll make it to the island, eventually…it just might take a while._

_As for my other Wild Things stories, they will be on hold for right now. Looking Glass requires me to get into the mind of a four-year-old, and I don't have the time to do that at the moment. Letters to Ronnie requires me to read a detailed summary of The Last Song (I read it over a year ago…I can't remember EVERYTHING) and to finally watch the movie. And, again, I'm on a time crunch. And with the added bonus of updating my new Harry Potter fanfic, I have to set priorities. _

_I will say that Bella the Vampire will show up in here one more time…but I don't want to give too much away. I've already come up with the ending of Looking Glass…it's just those darned middle parts that are throwing me off! XD_

_So…yeah. I'm all done with this note. LOL sorry it's so long! The next chapter should be up sometime later today!_

_~Elphie_


	48. 43: Facing Justice

_A/N: Just a quick reminder: if the police stuff isn't entirely accurate, then I apologize. I've never been to a police station before...XD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own WTWTA...or some of what Gary says. LOL I just found out about the whole Jessi Slaughter thing...and I saw the "Ya Dun Goofed" videos. ;)_

* * *

Chapter 43: Facing Justice

The late morning sunlight seeped through the blinds of Max's room. Max slowly sat up in his bed, feeling exhausted and sore all over. His mind hadn't quite woken up yet, and he got out of bed and padded down the stairs; he wondered what was for breakfast.

He reached the kitchen, and in the process of yawning, he was attacked. His body went stiff; what was this thing that was trying to eat him? He wanted to fight back, but his limbs were still heavy with sleep.

As he finally succumbed to his attacker, he realized that it wasn't trying to attack him at all. It was giving him a hug. The reason he'd thought it was trying to hurt him was because this person hadn't given him a hug in a long time.

Max shifted his head to look into the tearful blue eyes of his attacker.

"Hi, Claire."

* * *

The kitchen was devoid of voices. Connie busied herself with rearranging the contents on the counter for the umpteenth time; Claire stared at her empty bowl of cereal; Bella nervously picked at her waffles; and Max struggled to stay awake, nodding off every few minutes.

"What were you thinking?" Claire finally snapped, looking at Bella. "Do you know how dangerous it is out on the streets?"

Bella didn't say anything. She poured more syrup on her waffles.

"You're lucky you didn't get hurt. Or kidnapped," Claire continued.

"Claire," Connie said. "I think she gets it."

"But Mom! They could have been in serious danger! And why didn't you tell me about this sooner? I would have left Dana's and come back home!"

"Well, to tell you the truth, neither of you girls was supposed to know, but one of you has ears like an elephant." She winked at Bella, who smiled a little.

"How long were you out there for?" Claire asked.

Bella shrugged. "A few hours…maybe four or five?"

Claire exhaled, but didn't say a thing.

"And you're lucky frostnip is the least of your worries," Connie said, eyeing Bella's red-tipped ears. "Some people get hypothermia in that kind of weather."

"I know," Bella said, getting up to blow her nose. She knew that she at least had a 24-hour cold, and that she probably couldn't leave the house today.

Not that she wanted to, anyway. Last night had made her realize how much her family meant to her; she wasn't ready to leave them just yet.

"Frosty the Snowman? Whaaaaa…" Max sat up, blinking rapidly.

"Sweetheart, why don't you go back to bed." Connie kissed her youngest on the forehead. "You had a rough night."

"I'm fine, Mom," Max said sleepily, yawning through his words. "I don't need to sleep."

Before Connie could say anything else, the phone rang. Stumpy came flying up the basement stairs, yapping at Connie's heals.

"Do you honestly have to do that every time?" she asked, nudging him aside with her foot. Stumpy quickly turned his attention to the kitchen table, seeing the food that sat there.

"Hello? Yes, this is she…Uh-huh…Uh-huh…" Her brow furrowed as the conversation went on. Bella cocked her head, curious.

"No, you have the wrong man," she insisted. "He would never…I see…yes, but…okay…alright…I'll be down there in ten minutes. Thank you." She set the phone back in its cradle and put her face in her hands.

"Who was that?" Claire asked.

"The police station." Connie looked at her children sadly. "Gary's been arrested."

Max looked more awake now, for some reason.

"What'd he do?" Claire asked, sniggering.

"It's not funny! Mrs. Dawson from a few streets down claims he was trying to catch some nonexistent kids whom he claimed were hiding out in her backyard. The whole block was woken up by the racket he was causing." Connie shook her head. "I have to go talk to the police. And they want Bella and Max to come with me."

Bella's blood ran cold. "Why do they want us?"

Connie sighed heavily. "Gary claims that you were the ones he was chasing."

* * *

Bella and Max were allowed to stay in their pajamas. They sat in a waiting room, where Max fell asleep. Bella, too fidgety to do the same, read an outdated _People _magazine.

"Isabella and Max Carson?"

She stood hesitantly, looking to where Max was still sleeping. "Max," she whispered, nudging him slightly. "Come on, Max."

He jerked awake. "Huh? What?"

"They're ready for us," she said, holding out an unsteady hand. He took it, and she was glad she wasn't going back alone.

"Follow me," the woman said, smiling warmly. "We just want to ask you two a few questions."

Bella nodded, and she and her brother followed her to a grayish room with a folding table and a few chairs surrounding it. Bella and Max sat on one side of the table, and the woman sat on the other.

"Do you two know Gary Furnester?"

They nodded. "He's our mother's boyfriend," Bella said.

"Was he at your house last night?"

They nodded again.

"What time did you leave the house?"

Max frowned, and Bella decided to answer again. "I think he left around seven…and I left a half-hour later."

The woman nodded, writing it down. "Did you know that Mr. Furnester went out to look for you two?"

Bella raised her eyebrows. "No…I didn't."

The woman nodded. "Is it true that you were approached several times by Mr. Furnester last night?"

Bella shook her head. "I don't know if it was him…it was someone, but I'm not sure…"

"Mr. Furnester says you sprayed him with pepper spray, kicked him in the shin, and…threw a water bottle at his head."

Bella's mind was whirring. _Gary _was the creepy guy who had wanted to hurt her? She didn't know whether to laugh in relief or freeze in terror.

"Yes…yes, I did those things, but I wasn't aware that it was him. And it was in self-defense! He tried to pull me into his car, and I didn't know who it was, and he wouldn't tell me his name, and…and…" She trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

"Take a deep breath," the woman said, her eyes kind. "It's okay."

Bella composed herself. The woman looked down at her clipboard.

"Did you and your brother hide in Mrs. Patricia Dawson's backyard last night at around 11:30?"

Bella nodded. "Yes."

"And how long were you there for?"

"About an hour."

"Did Mrs. Dawson discover you?"

"No."

"What was your purpose of being there?"

"He was chasing us, for crying out loud!" Bella didn't like the woman's tone of voice at the last question. "It was the dead of night; we were panicking and didn't know what to do!"

"Calm down, miss…"

Bella sighed. "Sorry."

"It's okay, miss." The woman stood up. "I'd like you two to come over to the window."

Bella shook Max, who was asleep again, and the two went over to a window on the far side of the wall. It looked into a smaller room, and sitting right up against the glass on the other side was Gary himself.

His eyes grew when he saw them. "You bunch of lying, no-good punks!" he screeched. "I'll kill you! You ruined my life, you hear?"

Bella took a step backward, holding Max to her.

"What's the matter, Little Philly? Scared that Bugs Bunny's gonna run away again?" he sneered.

"Do you recognize him as the man who attacked you?" the woman asked, not paying any attention to Gary.

Bella nodded immediately. "Yes. It was him."

"You little brat! As soon as I'm out of jail, I'll get you! Consequences will never be the same!"

Two police officers appeared, and led Gary, who continued to shout and struggle, out of the room. Bella didn't relax her hold on Max.

"That will be all, miss," the woman said. "You may show yourself out."

* * *

"Mrs. Dawson won't be pressing any charges," Connie said on the ride home. "She said that usually, she would put up a restraining order, but under the circumstances, she'll let you slide."

Bella sighed. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"What's gonna happen to…?"

Connie stared straight ahead, silent for a minute. "He's being sentenced to five years in prison for attempted child abuse, as well as trespassing on private property and disturbing the peace."

Bella nodded. At least she had five years before…

"He said he was gonna kill us," Max said from the backseat. "He thinks it's all our faults."

"Don't think that for a second," Connie said furiously. "He's a jerk, is what he is. Making death threats to children and trying to hurt you…" Bella could see that she was choking up. "I'm so sorry. I should have realized sooner what a horrible boyfriend he was…"

"Mom…I don't think anyone say it coming." Bella put a hand on her mother's shoulder. "It's okay."

Connie sighed again and smiled at Bella. "I guess I should look on the bright side: he can't sue us."


	49. 44: Making Amends and Saying Goodbye

Chapter 44: Making Amends and Saying Goodbye

She should have known, living in a semi-small suburban town, that news would travel fast and that she'd get her 15 minutes of fame.

She just hadn't expected it like this.

About an hour after arriving home, four local channels practically knocked down the door, all demanding interviews. Connie, hesitant at first, finally consented; Bella was sure she said yes just to get all the people out of their house.

Even after that, they still weren't left alone. The local news stations must have wanted their story very, very badly, because all the interviews aired on the 6 o'clock news. The phone kept ringing, and Bella started getting texts from her friends, and people she didn't even know.

Tori was the only person she didn't hear from.

Bella blinked as she sat on the window seat. What had started that stupid fight, anyway? It must have been something petty, or otherwise she'd be able to remember.

She opened her phone and selected "New Txt Message".

**IzzyB13: Meet me at the playground tomorrow at 12. I want to talk.**

* * *

Bella didn't expect a reply back. And she didn't get one.

It was 11:50 the next morning. She walked down the stairs and grabbed her coat.

"I'm going for a walk," she called over her shoulder.

"Don't be long," Connie answered from the living room.

Bella smiled ruefully as she shut the door and began to walk down the street. Her mother hadn't tried at all to make Bella or Max talk about what had happened Friday night – at least, not yet. That was the nice thing about Connie: even though she nagged a lot, she knew when you needed your space to sort things out.

Only…what exactly did she need to sort out?

Well, for one, she wanted to tell her mom that she wanted to talk things out from now on, and not go around pretending everything was fine. And she wanted to patch things up with Claire; her older sister would be off to college in less than a year.

And with Max, she didn't even know where to begin.

She supposed she, like Connie and Claire, wanted to know the obvious: where he'd been last night. But she also wanted him to know, to really know, that she loved him. He was under the impression that getting mad at someone equaled not liking them anymore. She needed to tell him that it was normal…most of the time.

* * *

It was 12:02. Why was she even bothering?

Tori wasn't going to show up. She was still angry, and they'd never be friends again. Bella sighed, watching her breath make a puff of steam in front of her.

"You just can't stay away from the cold, can you?"

Bella turned. Tori was standing over her, a wry smile on her face.

"You came."

Tori nodded. "I was worried, I guess you could say."

She sat down, and the two of them sat in silence.

"I'm sorry," Bella said. "I didn't mean…"

Tori smiled. "Apology accepted. I appreciate you worrying about me, but I'm not five years old. I can make my own decisions – whether or not they hurt me."

Bella sniffed. "I get it from my mom."

Tori rolled her eyes before pulling her into a hug. "That's why you're my best friend."

After they pulled apart, Tori looked at her seriously. "I saw the news last night."

Bella exhaled. "I'm pretty sure the whole state did."

"Well, what you did wasn't smart…but the Bella I know sometimes does that kind of thing." Tori giggled. "I'm just glad you're okay. God, I can't even imagine…"

"Trust me…it was scary," Bella said, shaking her head. "I think my mom's gonna confine me to the house until I graduate."

Tori got a mischievous look in her eyes. "You think I could smuggle you to Starbucks for lunch without her knowing?"

Bella pretended to consider. "I _did _find twenty bucks in my coat pocket the other day…"

The two girls laughed and made their way up the street.

* * *

Early afternoon that same day, Max sat on one of the swings, watching Stumpy chase his tail. He was still feeling overwhelmed by everything, but at the same time, he felt strangely calm.

His mom wasn't asking about what had happened Friday, and he was glad. He wasn't ready to tell her – or anyone else – about the Wild Things. He still needed to readjust back into his life; he knew things were going to be a whole lot different now.

And, after his trip to the police station and being on the news, he wanted to lay low for a while. He half-expected to be bombarded by his classmates when he went back to school on Tuesday (Connie was allowing him and Bella to stay home tomorrow).

As he rocked in his seat, he thought he heard something. Stumpy had stopped running and was now sitting quite still, ears cocked.

"Hello, Max."

Max turned to see Bella the Vampire sitting in the next swing. She looked exactly the same, only…she looked sad.

"Hey." He was a little puzzled at seeing her. He hadn't been thinking of her at that moment…

"Max…" He could see she was trying not to cry. "I have to talk to you about something."

Max shrugged, trying not to freak out at the way she was behaving. "Okay."

"I'm not your Imaginary Friend anymore, Max."

Max frowned. Well, of course she wasn't…he was too old for that. "So?" he asked.

"So that means…I can't visit anymore."

Max blinked. "I don't understand what you're…"

"Max. You've grown out of me."

The full-force of what she said finally hit him. Sure, he was older, but it didn't mean he couldn't have an Imaginary Friend…did it?

"Being on the island made me realize how much you've grown up," Bella said, trying to talk through her tears. "Your brain knows that you're older now, and…well…you don't need me."

"What?" Max jumped off the swing, staring at her. "No! I still need you! You're…you're my best friend."

She tried to smile through her tears. "Max…I'm not your best friend. The Wild Things taught you to rely on your family more, to understand them better and grow closer to them. And…that's why you've grown out of me. You're at that age where you need real friends."

"But…what happens to you?"

Bella shook her head. "I don't know."

He threw his arms around her. "Don't go, Bella. Please?"

She hugged him, tears flowing from her eyes. "Max, I wish I could stay. But I don't have a choice."

Max realized that what she said was true. He could almost feel his matured mind; he wished that it would go back to when it still needed her.

But, at the same time, he knew it was best. He really did need real friends…someone other than a person he'd created. He needed to live in the real world.

Even if the real world didn't include Bella the Vampire.

"I'll miss you, Max," Bella said, kissing him on the forehead. "Thank you for everything."

"I'll miss you, too," Max said, feeling his own tears burning his eyes.

"Goodbye, Max."

"Bye."

She stood still, and suddenly she was enveloped in a white light. It flew towards his forehead, and once again, he could feel his pupils dilate.

Once his vision adjusted, he knew for certain that she was gone. He couldn't seem to for what she looked like in his mind. He sat on the woodchips, letting himself cry. Stumpy came over and sat next to him licking his hand in consolation.

"Max?"

Bella walked over to him, her face pale. "What just…what were you…who _was _that?"

The words didn't sink in at first. "Who?"

"There was a girl with you," Bella said shakily. "She kind of looked like a cross between me and Claire. And then she exploded in a white light and…" She hugged him. "What the heck happened?"

Max frowned. "How did you see that? I'm the only one who can see Bella the Vampire."

"That was…" Bella trailed off. "Then…how…?"

Max didn't want to talk anymore. He wanted to crawl in bed and stay there for a while.

"Can we just go home? Please?"

Bella nodded. "That sounds good."

The two siblings slowly made their way home, Stumpy trailing behind them.


	50. UPDATE!

Hey, everyone! I just want to let you know that there's a poll on my profile page. I'd really like it if you guys could vote and let me know what you think! (P.S. it would be helpful, for those of you who haven't read My Little Wild Thing, to do so...the poll will make a lo more sense...)

Thanks!

~Elphie


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